


Dark Scully

by jhunieilarde



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:00:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24768148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jhunieilarde/pseuds/jhunieilarde
Summary: After all the horrific things that had happened to Scully, it all started to take toll on her. As darkness slowly creeps up in her, how long can she hold on to the light before succumbing to darkness that wants her so badly?(i just thought that it might be fun if Scully developed the abilities William has or at least different kind of abilities)
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	1. Brain on Fire

She had faced many monsters for a lifetime. Despite her strong sense of science, she cannot deny the things she had seen that she cannot find any explanation for. Religion has been that side of her that balances her. It is the side of her that rationalism won’t apply and she does not expect it to. After all, it is all about faith. She had been raised to believe that by her mother. The cross around her neck constantly reminds her of that. 

The events of the last few years made her question so much. When her daughter, Emily, died just few days after she learned about her existence, Scully silently cursed God for what happened. Emily deserved to live and be loved and be happy. She knows she can give her that. God knows, she will do anything for her. She would have even quit FBI if needed be for her but life did not allow her to have that chance. Life has not given her the chance to be a mother.

When they had the case of Gibson, she wanted to do it better. It’s not because of Diana Fowley but because she genuinely wants to protect the boy. There is not much she can do when it comes to her own child but with Gibson, she can protect him. Still, she failed at the task. Her frustration is growing more and more and it does not help that Mulder got his eyes all over Diana Fowley. She couldn’t help herself but ask if it’s all worth it surviving cancer after all. They are a good match. They are both believers and she is as skeptic as she can ever be. She’s the odd one out.

Days passed and more cases had come by. Diana Fowley died and their lives went on. She couldn’t help but ask this time if Mulder is with her because he got no choice on the matter. He’s stuck with her. If another Diana Fowley comes their way, would she still be Mulder’s partner?

Her worst nightmare came to life when Donnie Pfaster broke out of prison. She had buried that memory in the deepest corner of her brain and she had never thought it will be dug up five years later. Of course, she hid it from Mulder. He is already worried and wants her to take a step back from the case but that wouldn’t help her at all. For some reason, she can feel him close to her. Deep in her guts, she knows he will be coming for her. She’s the one that got away. It’s just that, she did not expect him to come to her apartment that day. 

Once again, she found herself tied up and shoved inside her closet. She should be claustrophobic by now but she is willing herself to keep focus. Her heart is racing but she does not want to go down without fighting. She has seen what he did to those women. She does not want to end up like them willingly. While he was fixing her a bath, she crawled her way out of the closet and freed herself and then grabbed her gun. In that moment, everything is so clear in her brain. She had looked at the darkness and the darkness saw her too. Instead of shying away, she welcomed it with open arms. Something just snapped inside of her and all she can see is Donnie Pfaster standing in her living room. He got that smug look on his face, pleased with causing terror in her eyes. Everything around her disappeared and there is only him.

Scully’s feet moved without her consent, like a slow motion, Donnie Pfaster grew closer. Then she heard gunshots, multiple gunshots until Donnie Pfaster landed on the floor. Her gun is warm in her hand. It is only when her eyes met Mulder’s that things sunk in her brain. She became aware of what she just did. She brought herself to look down and saw Donnie Pfaster bleeding on her living room floor. Her gun is still pointing at the spot where he once was stood. She did not just shoot him once. It was not self-defense. Mulder already got him. It was murder. She just murdered an unarmed man.

“Scully”, Mulder spoke.

She welcomed darkness once, just for a bit, and she ended up murdering someone. She felt a warm hands took her gun from hers.

“Look at me”, he said and lifted her chin so he can see her face. “Breathe, Scully”, he whispered.

“Mulder…” she gasped, “…I killed him”, she finished.

“Stop. You have to breathe, Scully. I will take care of this. Come with me”, he said.

Mulder ushered her to her room. He helped her wash in the bathroom after he called it in. Once he’s done explaining to them what happened, he cleaned her wounds in her bedroom. He told the investigators that it was self-defense to protect his partner although he’s not sure if he can protect her from herself. 

Scully couldn’t shake it off her system. Even after Skinner cleared her about the incident, she is still thinking about her action. She sunk further into the abyss after she worked on a case concerning four girls being killed by a mysterious figure. Mulder told her that her own grief is clouding her judgment. Maybe it does but she desperately wants to save the girls. In the end, she let the last girl go to die. Emily asked her to let her go and she did.

“I found this interesting case in Philadelphia. There is this report of satanic cult that murders girls. I got us ticket for this afternoon”, Mulder started rambling about the new case he discovered.

Scully tried to listen attentively, but she keeps drifting off. Mulder realized that so he stopped talking which she did not notice.

“If you don’t want to go, that is okay although I really want you to be there with me”, he finally said.

“What?” she looked at him fast her head went light, “Sorry, it’s fine. We can go”, she recovered.

“Scully, are you okay? You looked pale”, he asked in concern.

He knows she’s been struggling and she has the right to be off after everything she went through but the weariness is starting to show. He noticed how her interest in the cases is slowly fading. She is disappearing within herself and he does not know how to help her. After Donnie Pfaster, he hasn’t seen her cry not once. When those four girls died, she did not cry. She is keeping it all inside and it’s unhealthy. He knows that because he is a psychologist. He can see her compartmentalizing. The last time she did that, she almost got incinerated by Ed Jerse when she tried to bury her emotions by trying to forget everything for a night.

“I’m fine, Mulder”, how he hates those words.

He cannot count how many times she said that to him and he learned not to trust those words. He learned that when she said them, she means the opposite.

“We can talk if you want”, he offered.

It is not that comfortable to therapy one’s partner but it is Scully. He wants to help her anyway he can.

“I am fine, Mulder. I will go with you in Philadelphia”, she declined.

Mulder rested his case. 

When Scully stood from the table, a wave shot through her and brought her down to her knees. 

“Scully!” Mulder called and tended to her side as she put her hands over her head in trying to help ease the pressure inside.

Flashes of images immediately occurred in her brain and closing her eyes does not help stop them. The pressure increases in her head and her nose started bleeding. She knows Mulder is saying something but she cannot hear him anymore. She started hyperventilating and before she knows it, everything went dark.

Bright lights greeted her eyes when she opened them again. She can hear beeping and the smell of her surrounding informed her that she’s in a hospital. Her head is throbbing and she can taste the metal in her mouth. Her tongue hurts as well.

“Hey”, a voice said. It’s Mulder. She knows before she even looked at him. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

That is a vague answer and she does not even know how to answer that.

“What happened? Why am I here?” she asked him back instead.

“The doctor said you had a seizure. We were talking in the office and you just dropped to your knees and your nose started bleeding. I called an ambulance but by then, you already passed out. They said you bit your tongue a bit”, he answered.

So, that’s why her tongue hurts, she thought. She never had a seizure before. She thought about having a scan once she’s cleared. Her cancer has been on complete remission but it’s good to be sure. She does not want to go through that road again.

“What happened back there, Scully? Please don’t tell me you’re fine because I know this never happened to you before”, he insisted.

“I honestly don’t know, Mulder. Lately, I’ve been feeling off and I thought it’s just stress. We’ve been working nonstop and it is normal to feel like your body is about to shut down. Earlier, I just felt this wave hit me and my brain suddenly felt like it’s about to explode. I kept seeing flashes of things I cannot understand at all. I cannot focus enough because it hurts. After that, I think I blacked out”, she answered.

“Yeah, the doctor said your brain is on fire right now. They want to keep you here to monitor on your brain activity”, he said.

Great, she cursed internally. She hates being still and now she’s stuck in a hospital. Irregular brain activity is not good but she cannot bear to stay one more moment in the hospital. She’s been confined too many times before and she hates it.

“Mulder, I want to get out of here”, she muttered.

“They just want to make sure you’ll be okay”, he tried to explain but she’s restless. “Alright, I’ll go ask your doctor but I cannot promise anything”, he gave in and left to find her doctor.

She started having the flashes of images inside her head again and her brain activity spiked. The sounds of the machine irritated her ears and suddenly it bursts. Scully removed the needles on her skin and got out of bed. The nurse came in the room and tried to stop her from leaving but she did not reach her. The nurse just dropped to the floor and Scully walked freely outside.

Mulder reviewed the CCTV footage in Scully’s hospital room and saw how her brain activity spiked and how the machine next to her exploded. He watched as the nurse tried to stop her from leaving and how she just dropped to the floor without making contact with Scully. 

“What happened?” Skinner asked when he got in the hospital’s security room.

“Scully’s gone. She left her room and I don’t know where she is”, Mulder answered.

“You said she had a seizure. Now, I heard about a nurse in critical condition and saw the room completely trashed”, Skinner said.

“I’m going to show something”, Mulder said and replayed the footage for Skinner.

“What the hell?” Skinner muttered.

“I know. The doctor said her seizure is caused by her unusual brain activity and that her brain is on fire. Scully said she saw flashes of things she couldn’t make sense. She couldn’t bring herself to focus because it hurts her head. Now, before that machine exploded, see that monitor”, Skinner took a closer look, “…that monitored her brain activity and it spiked. Her head started hurting and then that machine exploded. After that, she doesn’t look in pain anymore. She casually got out of bed, pulled out the needle on her hand and then the nurse went unconscious”, he added.

“What are you saying? Scully developed some sort of power?” Skinner asked.

“You are making it sound ridiculous”, Mulder replied. “It’s all connected to her brain activity. It’s not far-fetched, Skinner. We have no idea what they’ve done to her when she got abducted. She remembered that they performed tests on her but what if it’s not all about her ability to reproduce? What if it’s more than that? Do you remember Cassandra Spender? Scully went in that bridge by herself, drive miles to get there and once it’s over, has no recollection about what took place in that bridge. All I am saying is that we cannot shut down possibilities when there is no other explanation we can find. Right now, I cannot think of any explanation that will explain what happened in this footage”, Mulder answered.

“Well, there is only one person who can shed light to this and right now, she is missing again”, Skinner replied.


	2. Flying Lampshades

Scully walked and walked along the street heading towards an unknown destination. She managed to change clothes somehow but she remained barefooted. When she stepped on a broken glass, the pain from the pointy glass piercing through her skin snapped her out of her haze and realized she’s no longer in the hospital. The streets are dark and there is barely a store or any establishment around. She can see the light coming from a sign of a probably gas station but it’s far and she’s exhausted. She does not have any money on her or a phone. She does not even have any idea how she obtained her clothes or how she got there in the first place. The last thing she remembered was talking to Mulder asking him to get her out of the hospital. Everything that went down after that is a blur.

She found a payphone after fifteen more minutes of walking. It is unsure whether it’s fate or she’s just lucky to find a quarter on the ground. She used it to dial the only number she knows without thinking much.

“Mulder”, he answered on the other line.

“It’s me, Mulder”, she said.

“Scully? Where the hell are you? I’ve been looking for you everywhere”, he asked. His voice is frantic from worrying too much.

“I don’t know. I am in the middle of nowhere and I got no shoes on”, she chuckled bitterly, “How did I get here, Mulder?” she asked.

She is on the brink of panicking but she willed herself to control her breathing.

“We are tracing your location now. Just stay right there and I’m coming to get you”, he said.

She knows he will. Mulder never breaks his promises at least to her. Scully waited by the payphone. She tried her best to remember what happened but it is only making her head hurts. An hour later, Mulder arrived with his car.

He saw Scully sitting on the ground while hugging her knees close to her chest. She looked so vulnerable and confused. He noticed she’s no longer wearing her hospital gown and she’s wearing clothes he does not recognize which means she stopped somewhere along the way. She was right about the shoes. Her right foot is bleeding. Mulder removed his jacket right away and put it on her to keep her warm.

“I got you”, he whispered and helped her get inside the car.

He is uncertain on where to take her next. She clearly does not like being in the hospital and it might not be a good idea after what happened. He decided to take her to her home instead. It may give her some sense of security to be in her own home. Mulder wanted to ask her about what she can remember but he does not want to push her away. She did call him for help. He does not want to risk losing that trust because he’s impatient to know what went on inside that hospital room. Skinner will surely call him to ask about the same thing but he can wait.

“Mulder, what happened?” she asked the golden question first.

She is looking straight ahead the road while clutching his jacket. She is cold and even with the heater on, she is still shaking.

“I went out to talk to your doctor but when I got back, you’re not there anymore. I thought someone had taken you. The nurse was on the floor but she was alive. I checked the surveillance footage and then called Skinner to report you’re missing”, he answered.

“What did you see in the tape?” she asked again.

“Well, what can you remember exactly?” he asked her back.

He is afraid that telling her what he saw will freak her out. He needs to know the things she can remember so he can figure out ways to distribute the facts to her without breaking her.

“I remember being in that room. I heard the door shut when you left and then my head hurt again. I was hoping to find the button beside the bed but it’s not there and I could not utter a word because I was in so much pain. The machine kept on beeping next to me and…” she breathed in deep and squeezed her eyes, “…I don’t know. I cannot remember. Believe me, I’ve been trying to recall things but every time I do, my head hurts”, she added.

She is not lying. Mulder knows when she is lying or concealing truth from him. He knows her tell-tale signs.

“Yeah, I saw that on the footage. That particular machine exploded to bits”, he said.

Scully turned to her with confused eyes. He had never seen her that confused, that lost. She is a woman of science, a woman of knowledge. She is always certain about things, about facts. When she does not know the answer to a question, she thrives by searching for the truth. This is not the Scully he remembers. 

“What is wrong with me, Mulder? There has to be something. I don’t just go around town like that without remembering something. How did I get out here?” she muttered.

The radio started switching stations involuntarily. Mulder’s eyes turned to it, frowning at the strangeness of the situation. Scully kept rambling about not remembering stuff and how much it frustrates her. The streetlights they passed on started flickering and the radio won’t stop switching stations. 

“Scully”, he called but she did not hear him. 

Their headlights began flickering as well. The more Scully gets frustrated, the more things around them goes haywire. 

“Scully!” he yelled and she stopped talking.

The radio went back to normal. The headlights remained steady as well as the streetlights they passes on. Mulder stepped onto the brakes hard, stopping the car in the middle of the road.

“What?” she asked.

“I think you’re right. I think something is going on with you. I just don’t know what it is yet. You said you remembered tests had been done to you during your abduction”, she nodded, “We always thought it to be just about your ability to get pregnant but what if it wasn’t just that? You were gone for two months. A lot can happen in two months”, he suggested.

“So what? You think they experimented on me?” she asked slightly beginning to be skeptic of his idea again.

“In that footage, after that machine exploded, you casually removed the needle from your hand without even flinching. Your head did not seem to hurt anymore and the nurse who came in to prevent you from leaving dropped to the floor without even touching you. Now, you were panicking about not remembering what happened and the radio wouldn’t stop switching channels. The streetlights that we passed on would not stop flickering as well as the headlight of the car. When you stopped, the strange stuff stopped as well. How you explain that?” he explained.

She tried to make sense of it. He can see her head working on scientific explanation about what he just said. The skeptic Scully is thinking of reasons to prove his observation is not rational but she couldn’t come up with anything.

“The nurse might have an underlying condition”, she muttered.

“She is perfectly healthy according to the doctors”, he countered.

“This area must have poor signal”, she said.

“Signal does not affect streetlights and the headlight of this car”, he replied.

She is running out of excuses.

“It is ridiculous, Mulder. What you are proposing to me is that I caused all of the things you said. That is impossible. I mean, you know me. I may know a lot of things about science but I cannot move things with my mind”, she said.

“When I first met you, yes. Scully is not telekinetic but after your abduction you cannot deny strange things happened to you. You started getting visions or strange dreams. You experienced déjà vu a lot of times. When Donnie Pfaster escaped prison, you saw signs I was not able to see. Maybe something changed in you after your abduction but it did not happen right away. The effects may have been building throughout the years and now we’re seeing it come to fruition. There had been theories of associating high brain activity with telekinesis or telepathy. It is not far-fetched, Scully”, he explained.

She had read those theories. She found them ridiculous but they had been cited countless times in various medical journals about brain functions. Still, it is hard for her to believe that it might be happening to her.

“I don’t know, Mulder. It is a lot”, she muttered in surrender.

“I know. Let’s just get you home for now so you can rest. Things might come back for you after you get some sleep”, he suggested and she nodded in agreement.

Mulder insisted in staying in her place just to keep any eye on her. She showered and treated her wounded foot. Mulder’s words echoing in her brain kept her occupied internally. She wanted to see the footage from the hospital but she’s afraid that what he was saying might be true. What if she’s different now? What does that make her? Is she an alien now? Is she a government lab rat? What else did they do to her? Questions flooded her brain and she stopped herself before she starts panicking.

Her eyes darted to the door when she heard Mulder talking to someone. She buttoned her pajama top and went outside. Skinner is in her living room with Mulder.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re okay”, Skinner muttered as soon as he saw her. “What happened?” he asked.

“I’ve been wondering the same thing, sir”, she answered quite coldly.

“Well, the nurse is in stable condition. They said that her brain was cut short from oxygen. That’s why she passed out. They don’t know what caused it. It’s like she had been choked or something. As to the machine in the room, it could be ruled out as malfunction. No one has seen the footage so everything is clear as far as the legalities is concern”, he informed them.

Scully blinked a few times as things started to come back to her. She remembered the nurse telling her she’s not allowed to go. She desperately wanted to leave and the nurse was blocking her way. She remembered wanting her to just drop it and be quiet and the next thing she knew, the nurse was on the floor and silent. She remembered being annoyed at the machine next to her which constantly beeped. She wanted to make it stop and it did. A thought came to her mind as Mulder and Skinner kept on talking to each other. She turned to a vase at the corner of her living room. The theory is nuts but it’s not going to hurt to try. She just has to know.  
She focused her energy on the vase and willed it to move. It is quite heavy. She knows that because when she first bought it, she did not know where to put it and the delivery guy put it on the wrong spot so she spent good amount of time dragging it across the room because she could not lift it. 

The vase started wiggling a bit and then slowly it lifted from the ground. Mulder stopped talking when he saw what’s happening. Skinner traced his gaze and saw the vase and Scully. She is extremely focused on it as she willed it to move a few inches and then suddenly, it exploded.

“That was not supposed to happen”, she gasped while staring at the broken pieces of the former vase. “I loved that vase”, she muttered.

“Did you just destroy it with your mind?” Mulder asked.

“No! I just want to try and make it move a little and it just exploded”, she waved her hand to demonstrate but it sent her lampshade flying across the room, “I want to check if it is possible”, she explained.

Skinner remained speechless. He sort of believes in the paranormal but he never seen that kind of supernatural act in his life let alone performed by Scully herself. He watched her as she stared at her palm like the answer is in there. He is looking at the woman whose been kidnapped and hurt multiple times. She has faced death more than anyone else and she came out stronger than ever but seeing her now while staring at her hand made his chest ache a bit. They did something to her. They did not just abducted her and took her chance of being a mother from her. They did something else and she’s just realizing it now. For someone who is always in control, he can see how frustrating it can be for her to realize how she lost all of the control over her life.

“I think it is best if we sit down for a moment and keep calm. We don’t want more lampshades flying around. They’re pretty expensive”, Mulder suggested with a joke and it made Scully smile and chuckled.

“Yes, they are. Cost me a fortune”, she teased back which made Skinner smiled as well.

Just as they’re about to sit, her window shattered but not because of her newfound ability. They all saw a hole on the glass window and realized what’s happening. 

They’re under attack.


	3. Chip

Mulder instinctively pulled Scully behind him to shield her from the bullets entering her home. Skinner fired back at their unseen assailant outside while Scully held on to Mulder. She wanted to run to her bedroom and get her gun but that would risk herself getting shot. Suddenly, the shooting stopped. It is possible that Skinner got the shooter but at the back of their minds they knew it’s not the case. It is too easy. 

The front door bursts open and came in five heavily armed men. They have never seen their faces before and judging by the firepower they brought, they are not there to play. They have a mission to kill, to kill Scully. That became clear to Mulder and he cannot let them hurt her. She’s been hurt a lot because of his world, because he dragged her into it. He will die first before he lets them hurt her again. As bullets kept flying from both sides, Scully was reminded of the time she found her sister’s blood by the door. They gunned her down because they thought she was her. She remembered the time Donnie Pfaster invaded her home. She ended up killing him with her gun right in front of Mulder. It is not one of her finest moment.

“We need to get out of here!” Skinner yelled at them.

They are overpowered by those men. They are close to running out of ammo and when they do, they’re all dead. Scully weighed their options. Those men are there for her. She knows it. That is when she made that decision in split second. In the middle of crossfire, she got up on her feet prompting Skinner and Mulder to go on defense to protect her but she does not need protecting. Just like moving a vase, she focused her energy to the men trespassing her house and the shooting stopped. The ringing in her head started once more and for a moment, she can hear their hearts beating in their chests. She is so aware of everything around her and it is making her head hurts a little. She does not want to move them a few inch. No. She wants them gone from her home. They all heard a loud clicking, sound of bone snapping and suddenly, the five men dropped dead on the floor.

“They’re dead”, Skinner announced after he checked for their pulse.

Mulder turned to Scully who is still trying to recover from what she just did. It is official now. She murdered five men using her brain. As a medical doctor, she swore to protect all forms of life. She is a healer. Firing her weapon is part of her job as an FBI agent but murdering five men in a snap is not on her job description.

“Are you alright?” Mulder asked.

Only he can worry about her after they all went through a crossfire in her house. 

“I’m fine”, she answered while casually wiping the blood off her nose.

It is not cancer. She is sure of that. They have told her of her brain activity spiking before that event in the hospital. She had a seizure at the office and Mulder said her nose bled that day too. The high brain activity is causing her nose to bleed and it happened again. Mulder looked at her with worry in his eyes. He is thinking of the illness that almost took her life. He saw it firsthand when her nose bled back then. He saw it multiple times in fact. Her nosebleed he now associates with cancer and it freaks him out every single time.

“Really, Mulder. I am fine”, she reassured him.

“We have to go. There may be more coming. I will call this in but we got to move”, Skinner cut them off.

They went inside the car and drove away from Scully’s house. The first plan is to go to the office but knowing their enemy, being inside the FBI building is not as secure as it sounds so instead, they went to a secret safehouse. Skinner informed them that it was established to house important witnesses whose lives are in danger. The warehouse is fully equipped. It even comes with medical equipment in case of medical emergency.

“How many people know this place?” Mulder asked.

“A lot in the bureau but I doubt they will think is the place we will choose to hide because of that fact. Their first instinct is that we moved out of town and hid in remote places”, Skinner answered.

That is Mulder’s first choice. He thought about going to New Mexico. It will be a chase but he knows there are places there that the government will not be able to track them down.

“How long are we going to stay here?” Scully asked.

They cannot hide forever. One way or another, they have to resurface. They have a job, a life. She has family who will be worried about her if they find out she went underground. Skinner got family and he’s Assistant Director.

“Hopefully not very long. We need to find out who are those people trying to kill you and why. I can contact the Gunmen so they can do the trace for us. After that, we will plan how to even the playing field”, Mulder answered.

Scully glanced over the medical equipment in the room. She needs answers. They all do. Otherwise, what is the point in hiding from people who wants her dead?

“I want you to do a CT scan on my head”, both men turned to her, “We need to know what is happening with me and it might help us to know why they’re coming after me. I need to know”, she added.

Mulder nodded and Skinner went to set up the CT scan. Only Scully knows how to read it but Mulder trusts she will tell them the truth of whatever the result is going to be. 

“So, what do you see?” Skinner asked her once the test is done.

“It looks normal which is odd in itself. I was having irregularly high brain activity right so it has to show here but there’s nothing. I could run it but we don’t have the complete facilities here. We can send it to the Gunmen. They can find something here that we cannot”, she answered.

“We can do that”, Mulder agreed.

The waiting is agonizing. The Gunmen is very capable in searching for answers and they are quite techy than them but waiting is not their forte. It does not help that the three of them are confined in a warehouse away from their lives with covert group chasing them down. It took two hours before Mulder’s phone rings.

“Yeah, what did you find?” he asked.

He glanced over at Scully and Skinner who are both waiting for information. Mulder put the call on speaker mode so they can all hear.

“We analyzed first the bullets from Scully’s apartment. It is tough obtaining them since all your buddies are all over the place but we managed to get two. We ran them and you were right, they’re not registered to any firearms issued by the FBI. They were registered to DOD”, Frohike said.

“DOD?” Skinner muttered.

“With regards to the scans you sent, it appears to be normal but it is too good to be true so we filtered it and you will be surprised at what we discovered”, Scully held her breath, “The chip at the back of Scully’s neck is emitting some sort of signal towards her brain, so powerful it looks like roots from a big tree. The signal is reaching almost 70 percent of her brain”, Langly added.

The chip…again. It was meant to save her life from cancer and now it is causing her another problem. Having telekinetic power is good, she supposed. It can be their edge while doing their job.

“We cannot remove the chip. If we do, the cancer will return”, Mulder muttered.

“Telekinesis is not a bad side effect”, Skinner suggested.

Just ignored the fact that she is being hunted down probably because of the side effect she developed from the chip. Maybe they wanted the chip back.

“Here’s the thing. As cool as telekinesis sounds, Scully cannot use it every time”, Frohike said.

“Why not?” Mulder asked.

“…because when she does, her brain activity spikes up putting her brain on fire which would explains the seizure, the extreme headaches, and the nosebleed. It will fry her brain”, Frohike answered.

It should be easy. She can just not use it and their problems will be solved. The thing is, she may not be able to control it. She already snapped inside the hospital and walked her way miles from it barefooted. She cannot promise that she will have full control over herself.

“Any theories why those men are chasing after me?” she asked the Gunmen.

There could be tons of answers. It could be she’s risking exposure. She already caused an incident in the hospital. It could be that she became a liability for them. She may be a threat. She may be a mistake from their lab and they wanted to clean that mistake.

“Our best guess is that they want their property back”, Byers answered.

Their property, the chip on the back of her neck…or she entirely. She had become their property after her abduction. God knows what they did to her and even after she’s let go, they still got control over her. The cancer, her remission, now, the new ability. She is morphing into the number one X File case and she hates it.

She suddenly felt a warm hand over hers which snapped her out of her thoughts. She met Mulder’s eyes and then heard a loud bang. She did not realize her contemplating her fate caused the things around them float. The two men with her are looking at her, not with fear of what she can do now, but with worry for her sake.

“I’m fine, Mulder. I’m sorry”, she said.

The Gunmen suggested that they may have a possible way to stop the chip from emitting signal into her brain in a way that will not affect its ability to stop her cancer. It is a way out and Scully wants to take it. She will be hunted down if she remains telekinetic and she cannot continue using it to defend herself because it will eventually kill her too. She got no choice. If she wants her life back, she needs to return to normal or as best of normal she can get. The thing is they need to go to the Gunmen’s base. The devices needed to operate on her are with them so they need to leave the comfort of their safehouse to go to the Gunmen.

The three prepared to leave the safehouse and when they got out in the open, they found two men waiting for them. They are not the same ones who came in her apartment. She has seen them before as well as Mulder. They both looked like the bounty hunter. They’re just not sure whether they are working for the Cigarette Man or for the aliens.

“Get in the car, Scully”, Mulder said.

The car is a few feet away from them. She might make it but the chances are slim. Skinner took out his gun but Scully stopped him from firing.

“You cannot shoot them. It will kill you”, she explained.

One of them can run to the car and turned it on but it might be too late. They cannot fight them. They are both stronger than the three of them combined. Scully is the priority, Mulder thought. She has to make it out. Scully does not want to run. She is tired of running. Even if they make it to the car and escape, they will just follow them and they will put the Gunmen in danger. 

“Mulder”, he turned to her, “…the Gunmen knows how to fix me, right?” she asked.

“I believe so”, he answered.

“Make sure that they will”, she said.

Scully took a few steps forward. The two bounty hunters approached her with their weapons they used to stab someone at the base of their necks. She is not alien. She is now certain of that. She is just having a side effect from an experiment that gone wrong. Whether it is caused by the government or the aliens, she is not going to let them use her again.

“You are an anomaly, Ms. Scully”, one of them said.

“Then you shouldn’t have abducted me in the first place”, she replied coldly.

She felt the pulsing in her brain once more. She now knows it is the chip that’s emitting signal to her brain that’s doing that. It hurts but for some reason she is getting used to the pain. The two bounty hunters ran towards her to attack but they both stopped mid air as Scully used her ability on them. Due to their strength, it is taking a lot from her to control them and it is using a lot of her strength. Her nose started bleeding but she does not care. They will kill her and Mulder and Skinner. She cannot let that happen. It is time to take control of her life. Make her own choice. Scully focused all her anger towards them and they exploded into bits, killing them for good without releasing any toxic gas. After that, everything went black.


	4. A Threat

Mulder picked up an unconscious Scully from the ground and brought her to the car while Skinner took the wheel. She is not waking up no matter how hard Mulder tried to talk to her to get her to respond. He gently wiped the blood from both her nostrils as well as the blood from her ears he only noticed now. She feels cold and she is looking pale. It scares him. It scares Skinner. The Assistant Director had witnessed her collapsed before and almost died. 

“Can we go a little faster?” Mulder asked him.

“This is as fast as we can go with this car unless you can will this vehicle to fly”, Skinner answered sarcastically.

They are both on edge. She knows the risk of using her powers and she used it anyway to protect them. Before she did it, she asked him if the Gunmen can fix her and Mulder said that believes they can. She counted on that. She held on to that belief and went on and used her power to save their lives. Now, it is their duty to save hers.

They reached the door of the Gunmen’s lair. The three gents cleared a table for Scully. Everything has been prepared before they got there. They started working on her, hooking her up with machineries to monitor her vital signs. She is as cold as ice but the pulse is still present.

“We’re going to block the signal from the chip now”, Frohike announced.

Mulder and Skinner watched as the three men cut a small part of her skin at the back of her neck and put a piece of metal next to the implant to block the signal emitted by the chip. It felt like hours. Soon, the Gunmen announced Scully will be fine, weak, but she will be just fine. According to the new scans, there is no brain damage and her brain activity is back to normal. She remains unconscious while the others waited for her to wake up.

“Those are bounty hunters?” Skinner asked Mulder referring to the two men Scully killed outside the safehouse.

“Yes. Although they were not the ones we encountered before. There is one bounty hunter that works with the Cigarette Smoking Man. Those two, I was not sure who they worked for”, Mulder answered.

“They could not be the rebels because the rebels are against the colonization, right? If Scully developed telekinesis and those hunters thought she was an anomaly, it meant she was a threat that’s why they wanted her dead. She was a threat to the colonization and they wanted to eliminate her”, Byers thought out loud.

It made sense. On the other hand, rebels tried to burn Scully before at the bridge along with the other abductees and she did not have telekinesis back then…or perhaps, they knew there was a potential. That’s why they spared Scully from turning into ash.

“So, that would mean the government conspirators who are responsible for her abduction and those horrible tests done to her was the ones behind the attempt on her life? That is twisted man!” Langly exclaimed as he turned to Scully on the table.

They like her. They really do. They think she is good for Mulder and that she kept him in line. She helped them as well and has always respected their abilities and intelligence. Seeing how much her work in finding truth and justice took on her hurts them as well.

“Back then, the bounty hunter tracked down Jeremiah Smith because he was using her power to help humans, to help stop the colonization. Jeremiah Smith was a threat so they had him killed. They took Scully to keep me going with the X Files. They did to her what they did to all those women. They gave her the cancer which left her no choice but to put back the implant on her neck. Those implants were not supposed to be taken off and once it was off, none of the abductees were able to return them. It only happened to Scully”, Mulder rambled.

“What are you trying to say, Agent Mulder?” Skinner asked.

“Those people who got burned at the Skyland Mountain and on that bridge, they got implant in them. Scully too. She does not remember how she got there as well as the other survivors because it were not them doing the thinking. It was their implants. Unlike those other abductees, Scully was the only one who removed the implant and put it back in. The purpose of that chip has always involved the brain. What if by removing it and putting it back altered something in the implant that made it emit signals in her brain which in turn gave her the ability to move things with her mind? It was not part of the test, their experiment. It was not part of their meticulous plan but it happened. That would make Scully an anomaly to their system, an experiment gone wrong”, he answered.

Thinking of Scully as an experiment subject is wrong but she been used as one. The implant at the back of her beck was not supposed to be found but Scully is an observant and intelligent woman. She figured something was wrong when the metal detector kept going off on her. She had the implant removed but the government had a contingency for that matter. The cancer. It happened to a lot of abductees but with Scully, it rang a lot of alarm bells. Mostly because she is an FBI agent but also because of him. He broke into the Department of Defense and discovered the secret storage facility underneath. Cigarette Smoking Man helped him figure out what will save her life thinking he would make a deal with him afterwards. Mulder played along in order to save her but once it’s done, Mulder bailed to be Cigarette Smoking Man’s puppet. Scully was saved and the cancer was gone.

Her history did not follow the planned path the government laid out for all of its abductees. Now, Scully is standing out from the flock. She is attracting many attention. 

“The implant stopped emitting signal now. It is blocked which means she is no longer telekinetic. Do you think they will leave her alone now?” Frohike asked.

“They should and I will make sure of it”, Skinner answered.

Mulder cannot set up a meeting with the Cigarette Smoking Man but Skinner can. He will make sure they stop sending assassins at Scully’s door. The poor girl had been through so much already. She does not need to go through more. Mulder nodded at his direction and they reached a point of understanding.

Skinner left the lair to go do just that while Mulder remained at Scully’s side and the Gunmen gave them some privacy. Everyone is exhausted after what happened but Mulder wants to keep an eye on her just to make sure she will be safe.

Her eyes slowly opened and met the orange light on top of her. She was about to freak out thinking she’s back in that white room again when she felt a warm hand on her arm. She already knew before she even looked at him. After years of working together, she is very well acquainted with his smell and touch. If she’s going to be asked what it’s like, her answer will only be ‘it’s very Mulder’. He is asleep on the chair with his head on the side of the table. It is not the most comfortable position and she is certain he is bound to have stiff neck when he wakes up but she does not have the heart to wake him because he looked so peaceful when asleep.

Like sensing she is up, Mulder opened his eyes and turned to her to see her looking back at him with a smile on her lips.

“Hey”, she greeted.

“Hey yourself…you almost gave me a heart attack”, he greeted back in a playful tone.

“Remind me to buy the Gunmen a gift”, she said and they both laughed.

He actually never thought she will grow fond of the Gunmen. Perhaps, he had judged too soon. She is a medical doctor who came from a very respectable family who chose to be an FBI agent rather than to practice her skills and earn millions of dollars. Of course, she is not like any other women he knows. She is not a walking cliché and she has a heart. Plain and simple.

“How are you feeling? Does your head still hurt?” he asked.

Her hand found the back of her neck and felt it covered with bandage.

“No, thank goodness. I feel lightheaded though but I am guessing the guys gave me something for the pain. They better made a good incision because I don’t like keeping scars”, she answered.

Mulder could not help himself but laugh. His Scully is back. He could not be any happier than that.

“Skinner went back to the office to take care of our hired killers problem”, he informed her when he noticed her eyes roaming around.

She frowned.

“You found out who they were and what they want?” she asked.

He thought he can delay that conversation but knowing Scully, she will not let it go until he tells her.

“We figured that they worked for the same people or whatever the bounty hunter we faced is working for. They think you are a threat to the colonization plan because you developed telekinesis. When one of them told you that you were an anomaly, I and the Gunmen pieced it together. They must have not anticipated the side effects of returning the implant back in your neck. It must have been altered at some point that caused it to emit signal to your brain”, he answered.

Her brain works fast to catch up. He told her about the procedure the Gunmen did to her in order to block the signal from the implant. He explained his theory about the unpredicted effect of the implant on her and because her case does not happen before, it surprised a lot of people in power and acted impulsively by attempting to kill her. It also explained why she was spared during the attack of the rebels at the bridge. She had always wondered why because they were so close to her at that bridge but they turned around instead before reaching her. They could have burned her or at least that’s what she recalled during her therapy. Everyone around her except Cassandra was burned to death.

“Skinner is taking care of this thing?” she asked.

“Yes”, he answered firmly.

“I am just glad this is over. It is not fun being hunted down by bounty hunters”, she muttered.

Mulder ran his fingers on her cheeks. He missed the warmth on her skin. He was afraid he will lose her. She was cold as ice when he brought her to the Gunmen. It is nice to feel her alive.


	5. Modern Times

YEARS LATER

It’s been seven years since she last saw Skinner’s name on her phone. They all agreed to stay each other’s life but remains in contact for safety purposes. They agreed it will only be for emergency purposes so when he asked her to contact Mulder for him to meet Tad O’Malley, she cannot hide her surprise and frustration. First of all, she is a medical doctor working in an actual hospital with actual living and breathing people trying to save lives and not digging into corpses for autopsies. Second, she has not seen Mulder in a long time. It is has been agreed between them that they will try and move on with their lives separately and she did just that only to be dragged back now. Finally, Tad O’Malley is like an amplified version of Mulder when it comes to conspiracy. It is why she stopped going out with him.

Scully sighed in defeat. Even though she does not want to, she still respects Skinner’s position and if he reached out to her to contact Mulder regarding something, it means it is outside of the bureau’s ability to investigate. 

“Mulder”, he answered like he’s still working in the bureau.

She held her breath for a moment. She missed hearing his voice. It is amazing how one word can undo all the years of hard work moving on and building a life for her own.

“It’s me, Mulder”, she finally said after few seconds of silence.

“Scully, did not expect you to call first. Someone’s dead?” he joked.

That humor she finds annoying at first but she fell for hard.

“Skinner called me. He wants me to call you to meet someone. I don’t know the details of the case if it’s even a case”, she said trying to sound casual but there is a strain in her voice.

“Skinner called you and not me?” he asked.

“You did not exactly give him your number”, she answered.

“Oh, that’s right. Alright, where do you want to meet?” he asked again.

“I’ll text you the address”, she answered and hung up.

She could not bear talking to him for a few more minutes without her walls crashing down. 

“For goodness’ sake”, she muttered to herself in her office.

She is Dana Freaking Scully and she is about to throw all the efforts she put into moving on after just one phone call. It is so not her. To be fair, when it comes to Mulder she does a lot of things that are not her at all. She dialed again.

“Hey, Tad. It’s Dana”, she said.

“Oh, hi Dana. I was just thinking about you. Are you free tonight?” he asked.

Aggressive…always aggressive, she mused.

“Actually, I was the one who’s going to ask you out. Mulder is coming to see you. I believe you already knew about the meeting Assistant Director Skinner wanted to organize”, she answered.

“You get Fox Mulder to come meet me? That is great, Dana! You are god send! Meet me at the usual spot. I’ll come pick you both up”, he said excitedly and then hung up.

She rolled her eyes around. Did he just expect her to go along with them? Don’t they realize she is a doctor and not an FBI agent? She got a job and people to treat. She cannot just come and go as she or they pleased.

Scully waited at the ‘usual spot’ Tad said. Mulder is the first one to arrive in an Uber car. She frowned but she kept her mouth shut until she cannot do it any longer.

“An Uber?” she asked.

He does own a car. In fact, he owns three cars back at the farmhouse. He likes cars as much as her. For seven years she has not seen this man. They occasionally text each other during their birthdays or holidays but they have not seen each other for seven years and all the suppressed feelings are now resurfacing in a flash. Tad O’Malley arrived in his limousine wearing his expensive suit and that smile.

“Quite an entrance you made there”, she commented.

Tad is a famous man but making a show out of his wealth is not his game, well, not always. Once inside the car, he won’t stop talking. She can finally see how the two men are alike when it comes to theories about extraterrestrial and government conspiracy. The only difference is that Mulder knows who to trust. Tad doesn’t. Tad could not help but feel like everything that moves is part of conspiracy. That’s how paranoid he is.

She was trapped when Mulder asked her to come with them to meet Sveta, a woman who claims to have been abducted by aliens multiple times. They had met women like her before but she said that she has recollection of fetuses being taken out of her. It intrigues Mulder and wants to know more. He kept looking her way probably linking what happened to her and what Sveta is telling them. Scully’s brain wanted to refuse it. She does not want to go down that road again. It took a lot from her to get out and now she’s diving down head first fast.

Scully agreed to do an examination on Sveta to provide proof if she really indeed has an alien DNA. The girl tried to show her she developed a telepathic ability by recounting her life with Mulder, Mulder’s depression, their son though she missed on one thing. Sveta pointed out Scully does not know what it was like to be abducted which she soon realized was wrong. Scully does know what it’s like and she went through hell because of it. 

While she was doing the test, Tad came to the lab to talk to her. He apologized that she was dragged into the ‘case’ by Mulder. It turns out Tad requested for Scully to contact Mulder himself to Skinner because he wanted to see her again. Now, that sounds like Tad. 

“What do you say? Just dinner?” he asked.

The man is persistent and he is not shy from letting her know what he wants. He does not dance around anything. He got his priorities but he is not afraid to compromise his own feelings. Another thing that makes him different from Mulder. How long since they both started to feel that tension between them? How long did it take for Mulder to finally attempt to kiss her? More than five years? How long until he finally did kiss her? Too long.

“I am not hungry but you can give me a ride home if you want”, she said.

“Sure. We can drink champagne inside the car”, he suggested.

She smiled. 

“That would be lovely”, she agreed.

She is not sure how after that day, she ended up back on FBI working on X File with Mulder like nothing had happened. Things changed around as technology overtook the building. The past terrorists’ attacks also made security even stricter. She can understand why. What she cannot understand is the fact that she’s an FBI agent again? What happens to the seven years of building a life of her own? What happens to her job as a medical doctor? She has been swallowed again by the extraterrestrial train and there is no escaping it this time.

Tired from another case, Scully went back to her home. She is not the type to go for a big house with fancy things in it but she found herself buying this big house and started decorating it. She allowed herself to be Dana with this house and not the FBI agent that she was. It is huge for one person but she does not mind. She allowed herself to enjoy a bath before changing to her sleepwear. Once comfortable, she laid on her bed and waited for the sleep to come.

The world has erupted into chaos. People are dying. Mulder is dying. The world is coming to an end. Human race will be extinguished.

Scully gasped as she sat right up, catching her breath. She turned on the light and gathered herself. It’s just a nightmare, she kept telling herself although she knows it’s more than that. She felt that feeling before, years ago. It felt like a vision. It felt like flashes of images in her brain. Her hand unconsciously traveled at the back of her neck where the implant is located. What if the block is failing? What if it’s happening again? If only the Gunmen are still around, they could provide her with the answer she’s looking for.

The next day she showed up to work. Mulder is not in the office again, probably chasing some clues or leads about government conspiracies when that familiar wave hit her again. Images rushed through her brain although it’s no longer in flashes. It’s a full sequence. She saw how a deadly virus will erupt and that many people will die. Mulder will die. She also saw that the vaccine will be coming from her DNA because of her exposure to the aliens after her abduction. Just towards the end of it, she discovered that her DNA is not enough to cure Mulder. He needs stem cell transplant which William can provide. They need to find their son.

“Shit!” she yelled when the pain snapped her out of her vision.

Scully landed on her knees while holding her head with both hands like she’s trying to keep it from splitting apart and then she passed out.

Mulder arrived at the office hoping to tell Scully about something he found when he saw her on the floor with blood from her mouth.

“Scully? Scully?” he said as he rushed to her side.

He checked for her pulse and when he felt it, he immediately called for help. The scene is causing him to feel a sense of déjà vu but he cannot focus on that right now. Scully is on the floor and she won’t wake up. Soon enough, the medics arrived as well as Skinner. The Assistant Director was frozen by the door as he took in what’s happening. He too can feel that sense of déjà vu. He looked at Mulder and they’re both reminded of what happened years ago.

“What happened?” Skinner asked him.

“I just found her on the floor like that. The paramedic said she might have bit her tongue a little. She had a seizure”, Mulder answered.

Skinner turned to him fast at the mention of seizure.

“The Gunmen said that block thing is permanent”, he muttered, daring to go down that road first.

“I know. It’s been years. I believed it’s permanent. I am not sure what’s happening right now. It’s not like Scully has been exposed to something lately”, Mulder said.

Scully has been taking a step back ever since they returned to work. She is dividing her time between working at the FBI and at the hospital. He understands why she was doing that. She wants to retain the life she built that past few years and he respects that which is why he does not know why it is happening all over again.

“You better get down at the hospital and find out. Keep an eye on her. We cannot afford another situation like that again”, Skinner instructed him and he nodded.

The doctor told him what he was told years ago, the unusual high brain activity, the seizure, the brain on fire, the ‘we’re not sure what’s causing it’ part. All of that has been told before. It is happening again. Mulder is just waiting for the part where Scully will make something explode again.

When she opened her eyes, she told Mulder what she saw, the visions. Of course, he does not believe her. He thought it’s because of that brain activity or the seizure. He told her to take some rest. She told him to find their son. Mulder left due to some lead he’s following up on. Scully’s brain started going off again and she kept seeing the same thing. She hurried out of the hospital without damaging anything this time and went back to the office to gather information. She knows she needs to find William although she does not know where to start. It was a closed adoption. The records are sealed but if she digs hard enough, she will find him. She called every contact she knew and she was able to get a name. Van De Kamp. It’s enough to go on.

Scully ignored the headache while she travelled. Time is of the essence and she is racing against time. She’s not one to believe in visions but she has a strong feeling about what she saw and she believes it with all her heart. She needs to find William before it’s too late. That’s when her car hit the post. It is like fate is stopping her from fighting the future. She wanted to shoo away the people who were trying to help her but she’s helpless. Once again, she’s brought back to the hospital with bruises and cuts this time.

A force woke her up and saw a man standing over her bed with a pillow on his hand. She failed to react fast enough. He pushed the pillow down her face trying to cut her off of oxygen. She struggled and fought until she was forced out of the bed. The fall hurts but the adrenaline is rushing through her veins. The man wrapped his hands around her neck and squeezed. She is running out of air. In that split second, something just snapped in her. The man flew away from her and hit the wall. She held out her hand while catching her breath and then twisted the man’s neck, killing him for good.

“Scully”, Mulder called from the door.


	6. Jackson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where i start to change things. I hope you all will like my version of things.

Mulder ignored the dead man in her room and rushed to her side. She is still shaking from the attack but she cannot take away from her eyes from the man who tried to kill her. It’s been some time since he last saw her move things with her mind and it feels like no time had passed since then. He can see the marks of the man’s hands around her neck, evidence of his attempt to choke the life out of her. He saw the discarded pillow on the floor. The sheet is crumpled and his best guess is that he tried to suffocate her first with the pillow while she’s asleep but she fought back and she fell out of the bed. That was when he tried to strangle her instead.

“Scully, look at me”, he said gently, not wanting to startle her or scare her. “Don’t look at him, just look at me”, he repeated.

She turned to him and she looked stranded in that ocean of fear and adrenaline. He got a call earlier that she was in a car accident, that she checked herself out of the hospital against the advice of the doctor and she passed out behind the wheel. He is certain she went out looking for their son. It is what she was telling him before he left her. He should have known she will not let it go. He should have just stayed and helped her instead.

“I don’t know what’s happening, Mulder. I kept seeing it again and again. I keep seeing you die and I have not find him yet. We need William, Mulder. He is the only one who can save your life”, she said.

“Scully, I am fine”, he said.

She shook her head.

“You will not be. Everyone will die. I’ve seen it, Mulder”, she insisted and frowned when she saw the look on his face. “I am not crazy, Mulder. You know me. I don’t believe in this kind of things but I believe in this one. A virus will break and a lot of people will die. Those who does not have alien DNA in their systems will die. The Cigarette Smoking Man took that from you and put it in himself to save his ass making you vulnerable to the virus even more so than the rest that the vaccine I will create from my DNA cannot save you. You will need stem cell transplant from William”, she explained.

The part where Cigarette Smoking Man took something from his head was true. He almost died from it. It was Scully who saved him from that place and took him home.

“I know you believe it, Scully. I don’t question that. It is just a lot to process. This never happened before. You had seizure and became telekinetic once but you never saw any vision about the future back then”, he said.

“Please, trust me on this, Mulder. We need to find our son”, she pleaded.

It breaks his heart to hear her talk like that. Part of him wanted to believe that she is believing that vision so she can be with William again. He knows how much she longs for their son even before. Something in him, the one who believes in the paranormal, believes Scully’s vision, that she really saw what’s going to happen in the future. He can see it in her eyes. She really believes it. He figured that somehow it might be true since someone send that man to kill her. She just had a seizure. It is not an alarm bell for exposure like what happened years ago when she destroyed a medical equipment and knocked out a nurse. They sent an assassin to kill her which means they are trying to prevent her from doing something before she succeeds.

“Alright. We will find our son. We will find William”, she smiled at him, “You just need to promise me one thing. Never go somewhere or follow a lead without me. We do this together. Promise me that”, he demanded.

He does not want to receive another call like that again that she got in an accident. Better yet, he does not want to receive a call saying she’s gone and he was not able to do anything about it. She is the love of his life. He is meant to protect her at all cost.

“I promise”, she said.

It did not take them long enough. By the time they were able to find the house of Van De Kamp, it appears to be too late. The parents are dead and there is a boy lying on the floor. His name was Jackson Van De Kamp. According to the records, he was their adopted son. Just as expected, it was a closed adoption, no way of knowing who his biological mother was. Scully does not need any more proof than what she feels in her heart. She is woman of science who demands scientific evidence but at that moment, seeing the dead boy on the floor, the need for hard evidence went out the window. It’s her motherly instinct. It’s in her guts. She knows he was her son. 

Mulder tried to tell her that maybe he was not William. He wanted to spare her the pain. He knew she will blame it all on herself for giving him up in the first place. She will took it all upon herself why he died. He suggested for her to conduct a DNA test hoping that it will come back negative. It is his selfish way of not wanting to see her hurt. Scully declined at first, insisting that she is certain that that boy is William. He argued about evidence, facts. He told her all the things she told him during years of them working together. He cited cases where he believed one thing without looking at the facts and that she was able to prove him wrong by getting evidence, hard evidence. In the end, Scully gave up and agreed to do it.

When Mulder came back to the morgue to check up on her, he saw her pouring her heart out to a corpse. She was apologizing for her decision, for giving William up, for not being strong enough to protect him herself. It were all the things Mulder was afraid to hear from her…the self-blame. It was not her fault. He was not there by her side to help her. She did what was best for their son at the time. Despite being an FBI agent himself, he knows there are forces greater than his abilities to protect William and that those people who wanted him dead will find ways to get around him and Scully to hurt William. Giving him up to a family who lives a life far from the one they have was his best chance of having one, a safe life without threats of getting shot at or being abducted.

It was not an easy choice to make and he, himself, is not sure if he will be able to do it if he was in Scully’s shoes at the time. He has that fear of letting people go and it will be hell to let William go but Scully is a lot stronger than him. She has proven that many times. That is why seeing her crying next to a dead boy’s body, blaming herself for everything hurts him more than ever. It is not his Scully. Scully is strong. She is supposed to be the strong one, the rational one. 

“How long have you been standing there?” she asked when she saw him by the door.

“Not that long but I heard enough”, he answered.

She quickly wiped away her tears and grabbed the hair she took from Jackson. He saw how she cannot take her eyes away from him. It is the same thing back when William was a baby. Scully could not part from him, not just by one minute. She was so taken with him that she always wanted to look at her son, to touch him, to smell him. The only difference is that now, there is pain and guilt in her eyes that were not present before.

“Scully…it was not your fault. You wanted to protect our son and we both know being with us was not the best solution”, he said trying to make her understand the importance of her decision.

“I know that…and if this boy…” she sniffs, “…if Jackson was William, look at what good that decision made. He is here, dead. I gave him up to protect him, to keep him away from the people who wanted to hurt him and this is still the ending. I failed him and I just wasted years that we could have spent together in the process! William could have grown up with us, Mulder. We could have been given the chance to see him learn how to walk, how to talk, how to read, how to write. I could have been given the chance to take him to his first day at school, to pick him up after class. We could have been there on his birthdays. We could have been his parents but I gave him up”, she exclaimed.

Mulder held her shoulders to keep her steady.

“If you had not made that choice, I could have lost you both. They would have kept coming for him and you would die protecting him. I was locked up in prison by the same people who wanted our son dead. How do you think that situation will turn out?” he asked.

Scully’s hands are shaking. Her lips are trembling from trying to keep her emotions at bay.

“Listen…do the DNA test. For all we know, Jackson may not be William after all. Let’s be sure first and then we can both drown in guilt after that”, he suggested still hoping it will come back negative.

“Alright…” she nodded. “I’ll go do the test. I will see you later”, she said and left.

Scully stared at the results long and hard. She already knows the result before it even came out. He was her son. Jackson was William and he is dead. Tears fell freely from her eyes. Her brain cannot even comprehend it. She failed. She failed as his mother. All these years, she thought her decision will protect her son. She thought it will allow him to have a long and normal life but it still ended the same. He died and it’s her fault.

That’s when another wave of pain hit her brain. She dropped the DNA result on the floor as she tried to ease the pain by putting pressure on her head with her hands. Glass started shattering everywhere. Chaos broke in her brain and she cannot make it stop. She started getting flashes once more and it’s not the same as before. She saw Jackson…William, running out of the hospital. He is alive, very much alive. Suddenly, the pain stopped. She knew what it meant. Her son is alive.

She quickly picked up herself and rushed outside to find him. She heard the nurses talking about a missing body from the morgue and she knew it was him. She ran outside towards the parking lot. The space is empty and dark but she can hear movements. When she turned around, a man surprised her and his fist met her cheek. The blow made her fall on the ground, knocking out the air from her lungs for a few seconds. She felt a hand touched her shoulder and her reflexes took over and she immediately pointed her gun at the man but it was not the same man. The guy who hit her was on the floor. The man who was looking at her is an Asian guy.

“Are you okay? Are you in pain?” he asked in concern.

She sighed and dropped her gun.

“I’m alright. I…actually, I’m an FBI agent so I am used to this”, she answered as she got back on her feet.

“What? Getting punched on the face?” the man asked again.

She chuckled and wiped the blood from her lip.

“Something like that…believe me, I’ve been through worse”, she answered.

“Well, I was passing by and I saw him hit you. I caught him off guard from behind. I thought you needed surgery or something. I am glad you’re alright”, he said.

Scully felt strangely familiar with the man in front of her. She could not quite explain it but she feels like she can just talk about whatever with him and it will just comfortable as talking to Mulder.

“Thank you for helping me. I appreciate it”, though she must admit she is a bit lightheaded, “Actually, I was looking for someone out here, a young boy. Have you seen him?” she asked.

The man frowned and shook his head.

“Is he your son or something?” he asked her back.

A faint smile appeared on her face. It was sweet and sad at the same time.

“I believe that he is. No. I know for sure that he is. I was hoping to talk to him…to tell him…I don’t know. I am not really sure what to tell him. I just want to see him again”, tears formed in her eyes, “I should not be telling you this. This is quite personal and not your dilemma to bear. Anyway, thank you for coming to my rescue when you did”, she answered.

The man smiled at her and wiped the blood from her nose with his fingers.

“You seem like a nice person. Be careful and take care of yourself. I know you’re tough with your gun and all but there are a lot of bad people out there and I would not want you to get hurt. I’ll see you around”, he said and left.

Scully watched him as he walked away and got into his car and left. A few minutes later, Mulder came in rushing to her.

“What are you doing? Why did you let him go?” he asked.

“What are you talking about? That guy did not hit me. This guys is”, she asked him back pointing to the unconscious man on the ground.

“Him. Jackson. He was right in front of you, talking to you and you let him leave”, he answered.

The realization dawned on Scully fast. She was already talking to her son and she did not even know it.


	7. Finding William

How can she not see it? She replayed the CCTV footage outside the hospital and it’s Jackson right on her face, talking to her, and she was right there like a fool thinking he was some random Asian guy who saved her from a man who probably wanted to kill her. She could not understand why she was not able to see him. Mulder saw him as Jackson. He told her that perhaps Jackson has the ability to alter perception, like make people see what they wanted to see hence the change of appearance. It is not far-fetched. She had seen her son moved his toys with his mind when he was a baby. She had not said a word to anyone about it but she knew it happened. Their son is special and that is why there were a lot of people who wanted him, for what purpose? No one knows.

Now, they are back at square one. She has no idea how to find him again. Of course, she is glad that he is alive but she is yearning for him. They talked. They finally talked. He made jokes about her being an FBI agent and he cared. He saved her. He told her to take care of herself because he would not want her to get hurt. Did he mean it? She is sure he got so many questions. She got so many questions too herself. 

“Eat this”, Mulder interrupted her contemplation by dropping a plate of salad in front of her. “You had not eaten all night. It’s already six in the morning. I doubt you got any sleep too. Come on, just do this one thing and fill up your stomach”, he added.

It is true. She had not got any sleep at all. Mulder tried to keep up with her but he dozed off unable to fight sleep any longer. She played with the fork for a few minutes before putting some in her mouth.

“He asked me if I was in pain after I got hit. I told him I am used to it because I’m an FBI agent and he said ‘what? Getting punched on the face?’. He was so you. That humor that just comes so effortlessly. How come I failed to see that? He was right in front of me. I kept replaying it over and over in my head. I just talked to our son and I was not even aware of it”, she confessed.

Mulder thought about that too. He knows if he was in Scully’s shoes at that moment, he will be frustrated too. He tried before to find William while he and she were on the run from the government. He was told it was a closed adoption but he still tried. He thought that since they both left the bureau and wanting to build a life outside of their work that it may be best to get their son back. He was determined that they could protect him. After months of searching, he failed to locate him. Of course, he expected it to be difficult. It was meant to protect him from bad people who wanted to hurt him. Scully made sure he will be hard to trace. He and Scully moved from one state to the next and suddenly he realized it was not the life meant for a kid. They had a life of a fugitive. He does not want that for their son so he stopped looking.

“I think he knows what you want to tell him, Scully. You already did tell him”, he muttered.

She looked at him and recalled how she cried next to him when she thought he’s dead. Was he pretending to be dead all those time she’s with him at the morgue? Did he hear the things she said?

“Seventeen years, Mulder. I don’t think a small talk in the parking lot will compensate for those years. It may sound selfish but it’s what I feel. He was right there”, she started breaking down.

Mulder wrapped his arms around her to provide some sort of comfort. If he can find Jackson himself, he will do it. He wants his family too. He wants to be his father. When he returned from his abduction and saw Scully pregnant, he could not contain his emotions despite being lost after being gone for months. He was unsure how to fit back in but being the father of Scully’s unborn child was the role he knew how to fit in and it helped him got back on track with other things. She and William grounded him. He became enveloped with thoughts about how to be a father to him. He bought toys and gifts and clothes even before he was born. He regretted not being able to be there for Scully when she gave birth to William but he was relieved to see both of them alive and well despite the circumstances.

He was his father for few months before he was forced to go into hiding due to threat in his life. In his own way, that move was meant to protect Scully and William too. If he’s away then they would not be harmed because of him. He was dead wrong. He left them unprotected and everything fell on Scully’s shoulders. There had been multiple attempts to kidnap William as he was informed by Skinner. Scully managed to stop them all but it pushed her to make the only decision she could think of to keep him safe. She gave him up.

He could not even begin to imagine what she must have felt after the adoption was done. He was not there to wrap his arms around her for comfort. She was alone, bearing the pain of her decision to keep their son safe.

Now, he’s back and she’s still in pain. She is still suffering the consequences of that decision she made years ago. In a way, it worked out. Jackson…William, grew up into a young man. He went to school. He lived a life though they don’t have an idea what kind of life. In a sense, he went through the stages other normal kids go through. It is a far cry if he grew up with them while being chase by the government every now and then. Still, it does not help Scully. His absence has been a major reason why their relationship fell apart. He knows why Scully was desperate back then to create a life outside X Files, outside the bureau. Being at work reminded her so much of her son that she lost. She wanted a change of scenery, a change of pace, a different life hoping that will keep her occupied.

He never told her that he knew. He handled things horribly. Rather than talking to her about it, he cocooned himself in his study, did not come out of the house for a long time, and only did when he was asked by the bureau for help. When he accepted the case, he tried to drag Scully with him back to the FBI when he already knew what it would mean for her, remembering the son they lost. He was being selfish. He thought he lost his purpose when he lost his job, his cause, and his son that getting that case somehow made him think that that was his new purpose. He completely forgot about the woman who stood by him through thick and thin.

From a far, he watched Scully turned her life around after they broke up. She moved back to the city, bought an expensive house, an expensive car. She worked in some high-profile cases at the hospital. In fact, she worked day and night saving lives. He knew she tried to go out with other men but none of them lasted more than one date. He knows Scully is not one for dating men. No one was able to reach her level of expectation, the standard she has, the one who will not bore her, the one who will keep her brain working. She had built a life but it is a life being alone. He dared mention it to her once when he trying to jab at her by leaving him.

“Loneliness is a choice”, she responded.

She chose that life because she wants to live like that. He knew it’s a punishment of sorts. She is punishing herself for giving up William and she thinks she does not deserve to be happy. She was wrong. She deserves to be happy. She deserves all the happiness the world can offer after everything she went through. She deserves to have a life where she gets everything she ever wanted.

In that moment, he knew what he must do. He made it his mission. He waited long enough with his ass glued to his couch. If life will not give her what she deserves, he will. Right now, what she wants is William so he will find their son.

“We will see him again. I promise”, he said.

Scully was finally able to sleep. The exhaustion has caught up with her and she succumbed to it fast. In the wee hours of the morning, she bolted up from the bed gasping for air. She is sweating. Another nightmare, she thought. Everything felt real. She can still smell the place she was in, that warehouse. That is when she knew it’s not a nightmare. It’s another vision.

“Mulder?” she called throughout the house but no one answered.

She found a note on the table from Mulder telling her he will find their son.

Another wave of vision hit her and she’s back in that same warehouse again. Mulder is running fast, chasing someone when Cigarette Smoking Man appeared behind Mulder and shot him. Scully did her best to shake it off, freeing herself from the vision. She quickly got dressed and went out the house.

“Agent Scully!” Skinner called. “Whatever it is you’re doing, wherever you think you’re going, I suggest you don’t. It’s for your own sake”, he said.

The dance between trust and betrayal had been around between Skinner and them. Their history together tells him though that he only wants what’s best for her and Mulder. She does not doubt that for one bit.

“I have to get to Mulder, sir. He will kill him”, she explained.

“Who?” Skinner asked.

“Cigarette Man”, she answered simply.

“Don’t you think it’s a trap, Agent Scully? It was you they’ve been trying to kill. I cannot let you walk in there to be killed”, he resisted.

Scully ignored him and tried to take a step when he drew out his gun and pointed it at her. She stopped moving and turned to him.

“I cannot let you go, Agent Scully”, he said.

Suddenly, his gun flew aside to his surprise. He does not know her power is back.

“I will not let Mulder die, sir. If that means I have to go through you, I will not hesitate but I would rather have you help me than stop me”, she said.

Skinner knows there is nothing he can do to stop her. That’s a constant trait between her and Mulder. No one and nothing can stop them from saving one another. They will go to the end of the world for each other. He sighed in defeat. He should have known better than to butt heads with Scully. She’s as stubborn as Mulder.

“Fine. Give me the keys”, he said.

The drive to the warehouse in her vision has been long and agonizing. She wanted to get there fast but unless she can make herself fly, there is no way she’s getting there in a flash. She can try make herself fly but she might end up dead before she even get there. Despite the allure of her telekinetic ability, she knows what it does to her health. It can kill her and she cannot die yet. She still needs to save Mulder and see their son again. She cannot afford to die just yet.

They found Mulder’s car in front of the warehouse. Before Skinner can even react, Scully already got out of the car and went inside. He followed as best as he could. Scully navigated the warehouse with the help of her vision. It is making her feel déjà vu all over, like she has been there before which is true. She has been there in her head. She knows the spot where she needs to go…at the dock.

Right on time, she arrived there while Cigarette Smoking Man is pointing his gun at Mulder. The sight just made her stomach turn and her head spin. How can someone do that to their own kid?

“You won’t shoot your first-born son”, Mulder dared him.

“I shot my second-born son”, Cigarette Smoking Man declared.

That he did. She saw what it did to Spender. His own father shot him and put him under various experiments. She knows Cigarette Smoking Man will not hesitate to do the same to Mulder. It was like a slow motion. She saw his finger moved as he pulled the trigger. She watched the bullet came out of the gun but it did not hit Mulder. It did not hit anything. It just stopped midair. The look on Mulder’s face told her that he is not him at all. It’s William disguised as Mulder. It was not Mulder she saw dying at the dock. It was her son. They locked eyes for a moment and she felt that familiar wave the visions are giving her each time. They’re not coming from her head or the chip in the back of her neck. The visions are coming from William. She does not know how but somehow they are connected. She can see what he sees in his head. The Cigarette Smoking Man turned to her and smirked.

“Agent Scully, it’s been quite some time”, he greeted.

The bullet dropped to the ground.

“Stay the hell away from my son”, she snarled.

A frown appeared on the old man’s face. He has been fooled by William’s disguised and he almost killed the person he was trying to capture.

“Well, he certainly got tricks up his sleeves. I give him that. You, on the other hand, got your own as well”, he said.

“Yeah…and if you don’t stop hunting us down, I won’t hesitate to use it on you”, she threatened.

“Oh why the hostility, Agent Scully? This is a very important moment. A family reunion! The mother…the son…and me, the father!” he announced.


	8. Battle by the Dock

The frown is now on Scully’s face. Did he just claim that he is William’s father? That would be impossible. Well, her getting pregnant was the peak of impossibility but it happened. It is no secret she and Mulder spent moments on bed and that resulted to William. What is now impossible and slowly turning into being ridiculous is the Cigarette Smoking Man’s claim to be the father of her child. 

“I see you got questions. Well, let me refresh your memories. I am certain you remember our time on the road together, Agent Scully”, he said.

Yes, she recalled. She hated that day, being stuck on the road with the man who is behind all their misfortunes in life. She also remembered something else that day. She got knocked out. When she woke up, she’s in a motel room in her pajamas and she got no recollection how she ended up there. Her initial reaction was she was drugged but he told her she was extremely exhausted that she passed out. She did not pay much attention to it back then because all she wanted was to get back at the office and get away from him. Now, it’s all coming back.

“You really did drug me that day”, she muttered and a smile played upon his lips. “What did you do to me, you son of a bitch?” she asked.

Mulder and Skinner arrived at the dock catching that question of Scully to the old man. William reverted to his true appearance as he stepped away from the Cigarette Smoking Man. He wanted to flee and run like he always does but he stayed, eager to know what happened in the past that resulted to him being born.

“I performed an experiment. As you know, we extracted your ova from your body. I simply created a life in the lab with your ova and my sperm and added a little something else into the mix. I waited for the right opportunity to slip it into your system and that day was that day. I impregnated you, scientifically, and resulted to William”, he answered proudly like it’s his biggest achievement.

Everything seemed to stop around Scully. She cannot feel the air blowing around. She cannot hear Mulder talking to his biological father. Things just went silent.

“I am his father!” Mulder shouted at him.

“Well, sure. There is a part of you in William. Your immunity plus Scully’s hybrid DNA made him the superhuman that he is so I guess you can say you are still his father”, Cigarette Smoking Man explained.

It is all too much. How can anyone talk about another human being like he’s just a product of an experiment? William is a living and breathing person with emotions. He is her son. He formed inside her. She gave birth to him. She sung him to sleep. She loves him.

“I don’t care what you say. I don’t care how he was created. William is my son and I will kill you if you touch him”, she blurted out.

She is aware of four sets of eyes all focused on her. Her rage is boiling in her and she is like a bomb ready to go off at any moment. She just saw her son getting shot in her vision. She just learned that she was drugged and experimented on god knows how many times now. Things are piling up and it’s beginning to look like Mount Everest in height. She is a strong person. She is certain about that but she does not have unlimited capacity for shitty things. She also has her limit and she’s about to reach it.

“I don’t want to hurt the boy, Agent Scully. In fact, I wanted to protect him”, he said.

“No. You wanted to use him for your own sake just like how you used Mulder. You wanted what’s inside of him to save your own life. It’s not enough you took Mulder’s immunity from him. You are still going to die because you’re only human. You need William’s DNA to sustain your life. You want to become god. That is why you’re going to release the Spartan virus. You are going to eliminate people of this world except for the few you selected. Creating the world in your image…isn’t that what you said?” she disagreed.

He looked stunned by what she said. He thought about that. It was the plan but he’s not sure how come she knows about it when it’s not even activated yet.

“You will be one of those selected, Agent Scully. The virus will not going to affect you. I would offer salvation to Assistant Director Skinner as well and to Mulder. You’re all part of the elite”, he explained.

Scully almost scoffed.

“…like what you said to Monica Reyes?” she asked which stunned him even more. “You don’t care about the elite. You wanted me dead because you know that when the virus breaks, I will use my DNA to create a vaccine. You sent that man at the hospital”, she added.

The smirk on the Cigarette Smoking Man’s face disappeared. Everything she said was spot on and as of the moment, she’s the biggest threat to his plan. Her DNA can cure a lot of people. Her brilliance in science and medicine is enough for her to create a vaccine fast. She will be able to save tons of people he does not want to survive in his new world.

“People are really wrong in underestimating you, Agent Scully. Now I know why the aliens are so fascinated with you that they kept you alive but I don’t think they can help you any longer”, he said.

He pointed the gun at her and instantly pulled the trigger. The bullet exploded in midair before it even reached Scully. It was not her doing. It was William. The Cigarette Smoking Man’s army arrived to his rescue which started the fight. Skinner and Mulder engaged in crossfire with them while William destroyed bodies, literally. Scully advances towards the old man as he steps back.

“You have so much potential and yet you’re wasting it on what? The X Files? Mulder? William? You are god compared to all of them!” he exclaimed.

“I am no god. There is only one god that I believed in and it’s not the aliens or the government or you”, she replied.

He reached the end of the pavement. There is no way to turn to. He is cornered and he knows shooting Scully is no use. 

“Agent Scully! Stop!” Monica yelled.

She knows she is pointing a gun at her. How did they end up to this point? She does not know. In a way, she and Mulder screwed up her career along with Doggett and Skinner but she never thought she will go as far as this. She was there when she gave birth to William. She helped her go through it. She held her hand. She protected her as best as she could. She watched over her son when she was working on something to find Mulder. Basically, she’s William’s godmother and now she is pointing a gun at her because of the man who has been trying to destroy them from the very beginning.

“Are you really going to shoot me, Monica?” Scully asked.

“If you will not give me a choice, I will, Dana”, she answered.

It really has come up to this. Scully wants to talk her out of it, tell her that whatever the Cigarette Smoking Man got on her she can help her, but Scully is tired of talking. She is tired of putting the line between good and evil. All she wants is to get her son back and be with him and Mulder somewhere safe. Is that too much to ask?

“In that case, I am so sorry”, she muttered.

Monica suddenly gasped for air behind her. The Cigarette Smoking Man watched in awe as Scully remained facing him but Monica struggled to breathe behind her. She dropped her gun on the ground as she held on to her throat desperate for air that wouldn’t come. Blood slowly comes out of Scully’s nose and then Monica dropped unconscious on the ground. 

There is that sound of gunshots all around them. People are screaming. There is war all around them but she tuned them all out. Her focus is on the man in front of her. The man who took everything from her from the very start. He was there when she was assigned to debunk Mulder’s work. It was probably his idea to put her, of all people, to X Files. He was the one who handpicked her to be abducted to keep Mulder on his toes, to keep him searching, to keep him believing, to torture him even more. He was the one behind all the experiments. He took away her ability to conceive naturally. He tried to kill Mulder. He even got him abducted and experimented on. He tried to take her son away. She lost count on how many times he had tried to have them killed. He is the root cause of all their sufferings.

“Kill me and you will never the answers you are looking for”, he said, still arrogant about the whole thing.

“I don’t need you to answer anything. I’m done searching for answers. You may think of yourself as someone incredibly important, almost omnipotent because of so much knowledge you possess but there is one thing you will never know. Love. You will never what it’s really like because all you do to people around you is lie. You fooled yourself into thinking that there were people who did love you but you obtained that from lying. Therefore, it was not real. It’s just one of the illusions you created. You will never know what it’s like to have someone who loves you unconditionally despite your shortcomings. You will never know what it’s like to love someone so much that it hurts. You will never know what it’s like to love someone you’re willing to die for them because you’re selfish. You will never do that for anyone. If that means shooting your own son or subjecting your own daughter to experiment, you will gladly do it for your sake”.

He gasped and started struggling to breathe.

“It must have been frustrating watching me and Mulder all those years ago, fighting to find the truth while watching each other’s backs. We were fighting the world and yet we fight for each other. We love each other to the point we will die for one another. It must have been frustrating to know that you can never have that for yourself because no one is capable of actually loving you, the real you”.

Her nose kept on bleeding that it’s dropping onto the ground.

“All those years you went after me and Mulder and I was helpless to do something about it. Now, you came after my son. It’s a different story. This is where you end. This is where you kiss all your plans away. The world no longer needs you”, she said.

The sound of his neck cracking and breaking was so loud it reverberated in her ears. The Cigarette Smoking Man is no more. She turned around and saw that the war is over. Skinner got a scraped arm. Mulder rushed to her. He is so exhausted and got blood all over him. She noticed he got few cuts and bruises and she made a mental note to disinfect them when they get home. 

Mulder took out his handkerchief and wiped the blood from Scully’s nose. He quickly glanced over his biological father and realized he’s really dead this time. Scully made sure of that. Monica is on the ground too.

“She’s not dead”, Scully muttered. “Despite her betrayal, we still owe her a lot back then”, she added.

That warmed his heart. Not a lot of people come out from the things she went through with untainted heart. She got every reason to retaliate but her big heart always wins. Her eyes found William standing behind Mulder. He is no longer wearing a disguise now.

“William”, she muttered.

“Hey again…” he greeted casually and awkwardly.

“The visions…they came from you”, she said.

“I see them every single time. I always had them since I was a kid but I didn’t know what to make of them. I had seizures but no doctor can tell us what’s wrong with me. Lately, I started having them again…the visions…but the pain was less than before. I thought I was getting used to them but then I saw you. I saw you at the hospital while that man was trying to kill you. I saw you when you crashed your car. The pain was less because somehow, you’re sharing it with me. You were easing the pain”, he explained.

It was not clear how her powers came back since there is a block on her chip but now she knows why. The pain was too much for her son to bear any longer so she unconsciously channeled his to her. It removed the block on her chip and she shared the visions with him.

“Well, she’s your mother. She’s bound to get into your head one way or another”, Mulder teased and it eases the seriousness in the air. “What you do you say you come home with us? Stop running for a while and sit down and have a drink. We can all talk and rest”, he suggested.

Scully waited for William to respond. It is his decision after all.

“I would like that”, he replied.


	9. Coming Home

Coming home felt different to Mulder this time. He had always come home to the same farmhouse for years but this is the first time he enters the house with his family by his side. Scully and William together with him under the same roof. If it is a dream, he would not want to wake up. Skinner has taken Monica Reyes to the bureau for questioning about her involvement with the Cigarette Smoking Man. Scully sparing her life might turn her around into spilling what she knows about the old man’s plan to destroy the world and why she decided to change sides.

He watched as Scully made some tea for the three of them while William waited by the sofa, his eyes roaming around, familiarizing his environment. The boy is used to running for his life. It only make sense that he seems agitated by staying still in one place without waiting for the danger to drop by. The location of their house was well-thought to identify any incoming threats. The house is far from the road so any approaching vehicle or footsteps for that matter will be easily heard from inside the house. They will be alerted before the intruders reached their front porch.

Scully looked particularly pale which is given after she used her powers a lot at the dock. Mulder realized he’s currently in the presence of two special people on Earth. He saw how his son made a human being explode while the love of his life can move things with her mind. It is an odd world he’s living in but he knows that the truth is always out there. There is more to life than what normal people see and he’s far from being normal. He has never lived a normal life.

“Careful, it’s hot”, Scully said to her son as she handed him the tea.

She carefully sat next to him, still lightheaded. William smirked and took a sip from the cup without wincing from the heat. Of course, he is a superhuman. Hot tea does not bother him. Scully smiled a little at her son’s slight arrogance. He definitely got it from his father. His father. That thought lingered in her mind. It has not fully sink in her brain the revelation at the dock, of what the Cigarette Smoking Man has done to her all those years ago. She was experimented without her knowledge and consent. In all sense and reason, she has been violated more times than she can remember. 

“It’s okay to be angry”, William suddenly said as if he’s reading her mind.

Maybe he is reading her mind. Perhaps, it is one of his abilities. Mulder frowned at their invisible psychic connection that makes him envious. She turned to her son and suddenly, the anger disappeared. As much as she hates what was done to her, it brought her William. It gave her a son.

“I know but I am not angry”, she said.

William saw right through her and felt what she feels. He cannot read his mother’s mind although he can feel what she feels. He can also feels what Mulder feels because just like what Cigarette Smoking Man said, William still got part of Mulder in him. 

“Alright…I know this is going to be awkward but we have to address this”, Mulder said and they both turned to him to listen, “I don’t care what the Cancer Man said before about you being an experiment or who you’re father is. I am your father. I was there when you’re still in your mother’s womb. I was there when you were born. Well, technically I arrived after you were born because there were people trying to kill your mother so I had to do some diversion, but still, I was there that night. I carried you in my arms when you were a baby and…I love you. I am your father, William”, he said.

Scully smiled at him with forming tears in her eyes. She knows that deep in her bones. Despite all the things she learned, it does not change the fact that Mulder is her son’s father. Experiment or not, Mulder has been there since day one, or at least by the time he was returned from his abduction. He bought her baby stuff and took care of her while she was pregnant. He loves their son. DNA does not make a parent although William got a piece of his in his system but that’s just a plus. He remains to be his father.

“I know that. I have always known that”, William said.

That put a frown on both Scully and Mulder’s faces.

“How long have you known about us?” she asked.

“For quite some time. I think I was ten years old. I started having seizures and they became frequent. I was in and out of the hospital. One day, I was in my hospital room and the door was opened. I heard voices talking outside and then I saw you standing out there in scrubs. You had just gone out from a surgery and my guess was that it was unsuccessful. You were so tired and sad. You were fighting tears from falling because you did not want anyone to see how much it affected you. Then, you looked at me. You saw me staring and then you checked your watch and saw that it was late. You thought you woke me up and then you said…”

“I’m sorry”, she supplied as her brain travelled to the same time of his story.

“…you gave me a smile and then closed the door of my room. I felt something strange after that. I cannot get you out of my mind. The visions which would happen after the seizures started to be all about you, when you were working or at home drinking your wine. One vision, I saw you looking at two pictures on the table. It was his and mine when I was a baby. That’s when I knew the truth. I started practicing my powers and soon I was able to see you too”, directing to Mulder, “I saw how lonely you were. You tried working on things, cases, to keep yourself occupied but your eyes kept darting to her picture and mine”, William answered.

That was a long time ago that he knew they are his parents. Mulder wanted to ask why he did not try to reach out to them but then again, he remembered the purpose why they gave him up for adoption.

“I remembered that night at the hospital. I was assisting a patient. He was a kid and I knew the chances of his survival was slim but I wanted to try and save him but he died. I was just done telling his parents that their son did not make it when I saw another boy looking at me from his hospital bed. A crying doctor is not supposed to be seen by a patient because that might make him feel bad so I apologized and closed the door so he could go back to sleep. That was you?” William nodded. “Well…you really have a talent with hiding in plain sight”, she muttered and chuckled.

The two men laughed. How many times William was able to deceive his mother by disguising himself in front of her? Each time, Scully fell for it.

“Kid, we want you to know that we did what we did, we gave you up in order to protect you. It’s not because we don’t love you because we do. It was the sacrifice we made to make sure you will grow up and at least get a chance of a normal life, as normal as you can get, because it was something we could not provide you back then”, Mulder said.

Scully was grateful for him sharing the burden of that decision she made years ago. It was all hers because Mulder was detained. For weeks after that, she thought he would hate her for that. She gave up their son. It should be enough for him to not want to see her again but Mulder understood her decision. He understood why she had to.

“I sort of learned that too while getting visions of the two of you. Growing up while on the run and fighting bad guys would have been fun too but I get it why you have to give me up. Believe me, I tried to be angry with the two of you but I can’t. I just can’t”, William said.

It’s like a dagger in Scully’s heart has been pulled out. She dreaded to hear one day that her son hates her for throwing him away and now she knows he does not hate her. A smile formed upon her lips. She cannot believe her family is already complete.

The night has come to an end. Mulder prepared William’s room while letting Scully spend more time with him. His son is back. He kept telling that to himself over and over again. It is like a dream come true for him and Scully. Back then, he was moping around, in anguish by losing him and now, he is putting bedsheet on his son’s bed. It kind of make everything they went through worth it. All the shits that had happened in the past, they are all worth it.

“I would have tuck you in but I know it’s not your thing and you will probably complain about how you’re not a kid anymore”, Scully said as she stood by the door.

William is already laying on his new bed with a smirk on his face. He rolled around his eyes the same she does when Mulder said something funny.

“I will certain complain but thank you”, he said.

Scully laughed before turning off the lights.

“Goodnight, William”, she said.

Calling him Jackson is just ridiculous for her tongue. To her, he’s always been William no matter what and he does not seem to have a problem with that.

“Goodnight, Mom”, he replied which made her stopped on her tracks. She briefly glanced at him before closing the door.

Mulder is already getting ready to bed when he noticed Scully silently approaching their room.

“What’s wrong?” he asked in concern.

“He…uh, he called me Mom”, she answered, almost whispering.

“Oh, Scully”, he muttered and pulled her into his arms.

He can feel her tears dropping on his chest. He knows how long she had waited for this day to come. God knows he waited the same time too. She deserves it. She deserves to get everything she ever wanted.

“Get used to it because few months from now it will be all about, ‘Mom! I cannot find my socks!’ ‘Mom! I am not a kid anymore!’ ‘Go away, Mom!’” he teased which did not fail to make her laugh.

She pulled back to look him in the eyes.

“I would gladly take all those”, she said confidently.

“I know. Me too”, he replied.

There is a moment of silence between them. They had been in cloud nine ever since they came back that they did not have the chance to fully talk about the things that had happened.

“I’m fine, Mulder”, she said before he could even ask it. “…a little tired but I am fine. I am happy”, she added.

“I am glad. All I want is for you to be happy”, he admits. He gently brushed some strands of her hair away from her face. “I love you, Scully. I hope you know that”, he said.

“Yes, I do. I love you too, Mulder”, she replied.

Scully and Mulder lied on the bed wrapped in each other’s arms. Although they had been apart for years, being with each other just fell naturally on them like their sleeping positions or how Mulder spoons her. Everything is natural like no time had passed between them that they were apart. Due to the events that day, exhaustion caught up with them fast and they both succumbed to sleep in a snap.

While in the middle of slumber, something in Mulder’s guts does not feel right. He opened his eyes and saw that it’s only four in the morning. Scully is still by his side, sleeping peacefully. He cannot explain the feeling inside of him but he knows something is not right. He gently pulled away from her and turned on the lights. He checked the windows but no one is outside. The pounding of his heart kept getting louder and louder so he decided against his better judgment to wake Scully up. Maybe it’s his blood pressure. She is his doctor so she might have an answer to whatever it is he’s feeling.

“Scully…” he called but she did not move. “Scully, can you check my blood pressure for a minute?” he repeated but still nothing.

Scully is not a light sleeper but whenever he tries to wake her, she wakes up or at least murmured something like ‘go back to sleep, Mulder’. It’s not what’s happening. Mulder turned the light on her side of the bed and he almost stopped breathing. Her nose is bleeding.

“Scully? Scully?” he called but she’s not waking up.

William came in the room watching his father tried his best to wake his mother.

“She’s not going to wake up”, he said.

“Did you have another vision? Were you sharing it with your mother?” Mulder asked. It happened before.

“No. I woke up with that strange feeling in my gut so I came here”, he answered. The same feeling that woke Mulder up. 

He did not hesitate. He lifted Scully and carried him into his arms.

“The keys are on the table at the living room. Get it and start the car. We’re taking your mother to the hospital. Now”, Mulder ordered and William immediately followed.


	10. Recurrence

Mulder and William waited anxiously for the results on Scully. She still has not woken up and it’s been couple of hours already. Skinner rushed to the hospital as soon as he heard what happened.

“Do you think it’s because of what happened at the dock?” he asked.

“I don’t know. It’s possible. She used a lot of her strength back there but she seemed fine when we got home. She said she was just tired and that was it”, Mulder answered.

The conversation was interrupted when the doctor arrived with the tests results. The three men immediately stood up.

“I don’t think this is news to all of you but her brain activity is spiking again. Upon requests, we did a scan on her and…this is going to be hard to hear but, her cancer has recurred. It is rare but not impossible to happen to a patient who has been on remission”, the doctor said.

It is like a heavy brick has been thrown at Mulder’s head. Cancer. Scully’s cancer is back. He had always feared that this day will come. Each time she will get injured on a case or she will passed out, he always feared at the back of his brain that it’s her cancer returning to take her away from him. Now, that nightmare has come true just when he already got his family back together. He just got her back. He just got their son back. Why is this happening now?

“It’s treatable, isn’t it?” Skinner asked. “She can still undergo chemotherapy and other treatments?” he added.

“She can but at her age, it’s not advisable. The type of cancer she has is not operable. The previous treatment she had did not work on her. I still don’t know how she survived it the first time. With the recurrence of her cancer, it is more aggressive than before. Considering the first treatment done to her did not work, I am certain it won’t help this time around. It will only weaken her body. We can try clinical trials but it’s no guarantee that it will be a success”, the doctor explained.

“So…basically, there is nothing you can do for her”, Mulder concluded.

The doctor sighed.

“We can keep her comfortable. Provide her body enough sustenance to fight but in the end, it will be her decision which path to take. I’m so sorry”, she answered.

The doctor left them pondering on the heavy news about Scully’s health. They’ve been through this scenario before but back then, there was a glimpse of hope for them. Now, everything seems to be dark.

“It’s the chip”, William finally said.

He has been quiet since they arrived at the hospital. He does not know how to react. He had just met his parents and though it’s brief, he knows he already loves them. Now, his mother is about to be taken away just as he was just about to get to know her. He does not know how to process the disappointment with life.

“She fried her chip when she used her powers at the dock. That’s why it failed”, he added.

“You can see it?” Skinner asked the boy.

“No. I just sensed it. I couldn’t identify what it was until the doctor confirmed the cancer”, William answered.

A thought occurred in Mulder.

“Her power should have fried her brain but the Gunmen put a block between the chip and her brain to stop the implant from emitting signals to her brain. Due to the block, the implant got fried instead”, he figured.

That realization dawned on them that the only thing keeping her alive all these years has now failed. Her life is at risk and time is running faster than before.

“We need another implant”, Skinner declared.

“I don’t think there is still any implants left. It was the last one on her file under the Pentagon’s basement and I had to fake my death in order to get in there the first time”, Mulder said.

After his stunt, they might have cleaned up that basement or tightened up the security. It will be impossible to get back there, not to mention the uncertainty of the existence of another implant.

“We don’t need to go there nor another implant”, William said which made the two men looked at him, “I can try and get rid of the tumor myself. It won’t be easy but I know I can do it”, he added.

Mulder knows his son is telekinetic too and he got more abilities in his pockets but one mistake and Scully is dead. The thing is, there’s not a lot of options available for them. Option number one, is a long shot and option number two, William’s idea might work and it might also kill his mother. Two options posed great risks but doing nothing will also result in the imminent death of the love of his life.

“I will be careful. I promise”, William reassured him.

Skinner nodded his approval to the boy. It might work. They have to try.

“Alright, kid. Go save your mother”, Mulder agreed.

William stood by his mother’s bed while Skinner and Mulder closed the door and pulled the curtains. They also blocked the camera for privacy purposes. Scully is in deep slumber. No one knows why she remains unconscious but William is determined to save her the same way she saved him. He put his over her forehead and closed his eyes. It is scary and mysterious how a single tumor can dictate the longevity of someone’s life. Moreover, it is a wonder how she got it in the first place. He is aware that his mother has been experimented on before he was even born. They did tests on her no one knows what. Despite all that, she pushed through and was able to live a life saving people as much as she can.

“Come on, Mom”, he whispered which Mulder did not fail to hear.

William tried his best to locate the tumor threatening his mother’s life and when he found it, he slowly crushed it into tiny bits, carefully easing the pressure on Scully’s head without damaging her brain. A few seconds later, Scully opened her eyes and jerked up coughing. Blood came out of her nose.

“What happened?” Skinner asked.

The boy smiled. It worked.

“It’s the tumor, isn’t it? You got it out”, Mulder asked his son and the boy nodded. “Good job, kid. You have a bright future in medicine like your mother”, he joked which made him laughed.

Scully looked around her in confusion while Mulder helped her wiped the blood off her nose. She does not remember being in the hospital. She was in their house, lying on the bed with Mulder and now she wakes with her bleeding nose and in a hospital room.

“What happened? Why am I here?” she asked.

“Easy there…you were out for almost 24 hours. You won’t wake up so we brought you here. The doctor ran some tests”, Mulder answered.

“Is it my brain activity again?” she asked again.

“Well, that’s one thing and then your cancer”, she frowned, “The doctor said it’s recurrence but you don’t have to worry about that because our son fixed it”, Mulder clarified.

Scully turned to William maintaining the frown on her face. How can someone fixed cancer? She was doubtful about the implant at first but it worked so that became an exception but now her son? 

“I just dissolved the tumor. That’s why your nose is bleeding right now. It’s coming out of your head”, William explained.

She’s unsure if she’s just dreaming about it. Of course, she knows using her power has consequences but after going to bed, waking up to hospital and being told that your cancer came back but it’s gone because your son dissolved it is a bit too much.

“Okay, tell me everything”, she ordered.

“Your implant got fried when you used your power instead of your brain because of the block the Gunmen put before in your neck. William used his abilities to remove the tumor in your head”, Mulder summarized the events that happened within the last 24 hours.

Skinner handed more wipes to Scully to clean up her nose. It must have been really serious if Skinner was dragged down the hospital.

“We should ask for another scan just to be sure”, she muttered, her doctor side taking over.

She does not doubt her son’s ability. She just wanted to be sure. Having cancer has been a nightmarish phase for her years ago and she does not want to go through that again. If William was able to really remove the tumor in her head, it’s wonderful.

“I’ll ask your doctor”, Skinner volunteered and left.

“I did not hurt you, did I?” William asked her.

“No, sweetie”, she held his hand and Mulder’s with her other hand, “You saved my life. That’s what you did. Thank you”, she answered.

William smiled, glad that he was able to use his powers for something good this time. He used to use it to annoy people, scare them, kill, but this time he was able to use to heal. He healed his mother and it felt good. He realized that it might be the reason why she became a doctor and an FBI agent. She heals people and saves them from bad people. He can get used to the feeling.

“We get that scan and then we go home. I am starting hospitals especially with you on the bed”, Mulder muttered.

He lost count on how many times Scully was hospitalized. Their job kept her being injured from time to time and then during her discovery of her cancer. She was hospitalized for some time not to mention after her abduction when she was in coma for months. Scully lying on a hospital bed is something he never wanted to see again.

“Don’t worry. I don’t like being here more than you do”, she replied.

The doctor brought Scully to the CT scan room to see inside her head if the tumor is still there and to her surprised, it’s no longer there. No one in the hospital can explain it. They call it a miracle. They kept their mouth shut to protect their secret and let the doctors believed it to be a work of God. Scully believes in that faith and she believes God sent her son back to her. The doctor insisted to keep her for observation but Scully insisted to be discharged. She wants to go home with her family so eventually she was released.

Skinner drove them back home. 

“What happened to your interrogation with Reyes?” Mulder asked while inside the car.

“She was surprised to remain breathing. I told her Scully spared her life and she appeared to be grateful and guilty for choosing to deal with the devil. I asked her about the Spartan virus and she told me that it was present in every human being DNA and an exposure to a trigger will activate the virus that will stripped all of us our immune system. She spilled everything and we were able to recover the trigger and it was destroyed so no need to worry about that”, Skinner answered.

They can all understand why Monica chose to go to the other side. It’s pure survival. The vaccine is not available to public. Only those with power got it. The elites as what the Cigarette Smoking Man calls them.

“We should still work on the vaccine. I know how to do it. I mean I have seen how to do it using my DNA. I am immune to the virus”, Scully said.

She knows it worked on Einstein in her vision, not just on Mulder. She made a mental note to suggest to Mulder about possible stem cell transplant just to be sure in case there’s another trigger out there. She would have to ask William about that too.

“That can be arranged after you rest. You’ve been through a lot and may I remind you that we are not as young as we used to. I, for one, does not appreciate being called in the middle of the night that you were rushed in the hospital. I don’t have the same strength anymore”, Skinner said which earned laughter from his agents.

“Yes, sir”, Scully replied.

“For now, let’s go home. I can crack a beer”, Mulder turned to look at his son next to Scully, “you game, kid?” William nodded.

“I’m having one too. I think I earned that”, Skinner said.

“Red wine for me”, Scully added as they all looked forward to go relaxing.


	11. The Ending That Should Have Been

They spent the night talking about light topics other than government conspiracies, aliens, and viruses. They talked like good friends sitting around a table drinking beer and wine. They were able to get to know William more and what his childhood was like. Mulder and Scully listened eagerly, determined to know more about their son while Skinner watched the two parents focus on the boy. He has seen the journey both of them went through from the beginning. He knows the hardships, the sacrifices they have to make, the loss they endured in order to find the truth. Throughout their dance of whom to trust, Skinner never doubted Mulder and Scully. They always prevail one way or another. Now, sitting in their living room in a farmhouse, he cannot help but be glad to see they were able to create a home despite everything that has happened.

He was particularly disappointed when he learned that they separated years ago. If the government and aliens were not able to keep them apart, why do that to themselves? He decided to look out for them while they were apart. He looked after Scully while she works as a medical doctor assisting various hospitals and he looked after Mulder, made sure his fridge does not run out of supplies. He hoped that one day, they will find their way back to one another because they’re just simply meant to be. Without each other, they’re broken, incomplete. When Tad O’Malley reached out to him for a possible X File case, he asked Scully to contact Mulder despite having means to do it himself so the two can reconnect. It worked somehow because now they’re all sitting together having laughs while drinking beer.

“Keep staring and we all melt”, Mulder teased him.

“Sorry, this is just such a good sight. Last time I see this happen, well, it’s been a long time”, Skinner explained.

Last time he saw them three was a week after Scully gave birth to William. He visited them at her apartment. It was a lovely sight back then to see Mulder carrying William in his arms while Scully was tidying his crib.

“It has been a long time indeed”, Scully muttered recalling the same moment Skinner was thinking.

“Who would have thought we would all still be here, huh? I mean, how many attacks we survived?” Mulder asked.

Now, it’s William’s turn to listen. 

“…too many to be frank. I am supposed to be a boss, you know, safe in the comfort of my office but I have been shot, stabbed, and beaten up for you guys”, Skinner answered.

Scully laughed.

“I have been abducted by aliens and experimented on. I also been kidnapped by killers before and I lost count how many times I landed in hospitals so I think I beat that”, she teased.

“Hey, I’ve been abducted by aliens too. My biological father removed a part of my gene and then tried to kill me. I had been kidnapped too and I was imprisoned”, Mulder contested.

They all suppressed their laughter while Skinner weighed in the options on the table.

“I think I’ll go with Scully”, he decided.

“I’ll go with Mom too”, William voted as well.

Scully made a face before Mulder was able to protest but eventually he surrendered. He is outnumbered and when it comes to Scully, he always loses. 

They finally said goodbye to Skinner and called it a night. Mulder checked on Scully repeatedly to make sure she’s alright, afraid that he will wake up in the middle of the night once more and she’ll be in danger again. She reassured him that she’s okay even William said the same thing. She’s clear of cancer.

“Do you think we will ever have a period of time in our lives where no bad guys are trying to hunt us or there will be no lead for us to follow?” he asked while they were on bed.

“We had period of time in our lives. Do you remember?” she snuggled closer, “You weren’t much loving life that time. You spent most of your time in your study, you grew beard, and you did not want to leave the house. I think a life without leads to follow or case to solve will be boring for you, Mulder. You like challenge. You like solving mysteries”, she answered.

Having spent most of his life chasing the truth, he does not know how to function when it comes to living a simple life anymore. He admits to being bored during those years of being out of the bureau. He missed the rush of the adrenaline in his veins, how cases can make his brain work like machine.

“That is true but I have grown throughout the years to realize that there are other people searching for the truth as well. As far as my quest goes, I found the truth. I found my sister. I found what our government is trying to hide. I still believe in helping people and I like being challenged but right now, my priorities have shifted. I would like to be with my family first”, he said.

Scully turned to look at him. His answer raised her eyebrow because since from the beginning, Mulder has always put his quest first. He always said to her that there are things bigger than the two of them and he would rather die at some point than to give up that quest. Now, he’s like a changed person. 

“Mulder, are you talking about retiring?” she asked.

“It’s a thought, yes. Well, we still need to make a living so maybe take a step back. I can do some consulting job for the bureau or I can go teach like what you used to do at Quantico or university”, he answered.

She does not doubt Mulder being a good teacher. He is passionate and detailed when it comes to his field. She is sure he will make a great teacher. She is just having a hard time believing Mulder is willing to take a step back from the field.

“Well, I think we can work something out. We have been chasing bad guys for a long time and stepping back sounds kinda nice. I would not want to go back teaching at Quantico though. I think I will continue practicing in hospitals and you can teach”, she suggested.

“Yeah…then, at night we come home. William will be studying at some great university as soon as he figured out what field he wants to pursue. We all spend holidays together and we can go on vacation out of town from time to time, the three of us. It’s a nice way to spend remaining years of our lives”, he added.

The images were formed quite vividly in their minds and they put smiles on their faces.

“I like the sound of that, Mulder”, she muttered.

“Tomorrow, I will call Skinner and have it all arranged”, he said and then held on tighter to her as they both closed their eyes. “I love you, Scully”, he muttered.

“I love you too, Mulder”, she replied.

The next day, Mulder did what he said. He called Skinner and informed him of their decision to take a step back from the X File and the bureau. He remained open about consultation of some case to which Skinner was glad. The Assistant Director also requested if Scully would be amendable to doing consultation work as well since she’s exceptional at her job in the field of science and she answered in the affirmative.

William was thrilled that his parents had decided to settle and want to spend time with him as family. He had given thought about going to college as well but just like what his mother told him, there is no rush yet. So far, he has been drawing inspiration from both his father and mother to help him choose his own path in the future. As much as he likes the thrill, he knows being an FBI agent is not for him. It will not only expose him and his abilities but he cannot trust himself not to go too far when confronted with critical situation. Psychology might be good for him but having a taste of what it’s like to save someone’s life made the biggest impact on him. It makes him think more of following his mother’s footsteps in medicine or in science, to use his gifts for the greater good.

Scully, on the other hand, started working on creating the vaccine for the Spartan virus using her own DNA. Even though she was told that the trigger was already destroyed, she wanted to be sure that in case another trigger surfaced and threatens the world, a vaccine will be readily available to help others. It may happen soon. It may not happen during her lifetime, but it will help her sleep at night knowing she created a backup plan for the future generations. She resumed working in hospitals, assisting doctors and patients while participating in some research for clinical trials to discover more ways to treat people with untreatable conditions.

After two months, Mulder began teaching at Quantico on behavioral psychology and criminal profiling, something he exceeds well. It also made easier to continue his consultation work since Skinner can reach him anytime. The hours are not consuming at all that he still got time for his family. He began to work around his tendency to overwork himself and become more acquainted with using his leave credits to go take Scully and William out for a trip.

There were times that Skinner will pay them a visit at their home with loads of case files to ask for their opinions about it. Mulder will gladly do the profile for him while Scully will offer to examine the evidence and conduct the autopsy if needed be. It has become a routine and their consultation services became relevant to the bureau.

William has decided to pursue the field of biology and science in order to explore more of his interest on medicine and genetics. He also aims to learn more about himself and the genetic makeup of everyone in the hope of curing diseases that are currently incurable. He wants to use his abilities and sensitivities to heal just like his mother and he got his parents’ full support. It is not a surprise when he aced his entrance exam at Georgetown University. He has been reading his mother’s books for months and has been listening intently when she talks about science so naturally, he was able to apply all those learnings on his test. Mulder and Scully are glad that he chose Georgetown since it’s in D.C. and close to home. They just couldn’t bear the thought of being away from him again after so many years and William wants to be close to them as well.

A year after their reunion, the Scully-Mulder family has settled into a routine. Mulder has adjusted quite well to his new career. Scully continues her work in the field of medicine and William is thriving in school. A year has passed with no attempt on their lives had happened which is a blessing because it will seriously ruin everything for them. They kept in touch with Skinner and the work in the bureau and they do not forget to spend time together. It is already past ten in the evening and Scully still got her head on her patient’s case file. She has been agonizing over her patient who is gravely ill. She has been researching other treatments that will help him but so far, she found nothing and that frustrates her.

Mulder sat on the bed while watching her work her brain. He always finds it beautiful when she’s thinking and spewing scientific facts at him. It’s not that she’s overworking herself. She just genuinely cares about her patients that she wants to save them as much as she can. He remembers the first time he saw her dove into case files and then went straight to do the autopsy. She was restless and fearless. She was not afraid to show her intelligence even though she’s new and she still got those traits up to this date.

“Scully”, he called her attention.

“Yeah? Just a second…I just need to take another look at this. I might have missed something”, she said without looking at him.

He smiled.

“Marry me”, he proposed.

She stopped flipping the pages and turned to him with a slight raised eyebrow. It is not the first he blurted that out on her. He did it multiple times before as a joke but there is something on his tone that made her look at him. When she met his eyes, they told her he was not joking this time around. He is deadly serious about his so-called proposal.

“Mulder, you don’t even have a ring and this is not how a proposal should happen”, she tries to downplay it.

She has been living with the man for years. She even got a child with him. Getting married had long been gone in her mind because she already has what married woman should have. Back in her youth, she used to want the big wedding, the white picket fence but that was old Dana Scully. The new Dana is content with what she has. She is happy with what she has.

“Actually…” he started but then stopped and went to the closet as Scully followed him with her curious eyes. Mulder came back holding a tiny box in his hand. “I already got one and has been waiting for the right moment to do this but I figured there is no right moment. Every moment is right. Every moment with you is right, Scully. God, I know I suck at this and this is probably the worst proposal ever but what I do know is that I cannot imagine life without you. I don’t want to imagine life without you”, he got down on one knee and opened the box to show a diamond ring, “So, here I am trying my best to do the traditional way and asking you, Dana Katherine Scully, will you be my wife?” he proposed.

Scully remained speechless for a good five minutes. She thought he was just joking, that her attempt to downplay it will only prove that he’s just teasing her but instead, it prompt him to actually proposing in their bedroom nonetheless while she’s agonizing over how to save a patient of hers. He is right about something. There is no right moment. They have been together for a very long time and there has been no right moment to do what he is doing now. They are always facing something whether it’s work or something personal. Right now, she is facing a dilemma at work but it’s okay. Somehow, she knows everything is going to be okay. Tears slowly formed in her eyes. She knows she has long forgotten and let go of her dreams to be a bride but Mulder wants her to be his wife. She is not young anymore and she has insecurities about herself. She knows he can choose younger women over her and she wouldn’t hold it against him and yet here he is, down on his knee, asking her to marry him.

“Scully?” he called to snap her out of her thoughts. “This is the part where you give me your answer. I am a bit too old for this and I don’t think I can hold kneeling on our bedroom floor much longer”, he added.

She smiled and then laughed. How easy it is for him to make her laugh with his honesty.

“Yes!” she blurted out while nodding. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Of course, I want to be your wife, Mulder!” she exclaimed.

She got up and he got back on his feet and then pulled her to his arms right away. He honestly doesn’t know what to do if she has said no but that’s something he won’t have to think about anymore. He remembered the ring and put it on her finger.

“Mulder…this is beautiful”, she muttered as she takes a closer look at it.

She is not one for jewelries but she loves the ring he got for her. It is simple and yet so gorgeous.

“I am glad you like it. I was a bit nervous you wouldn’t”, he said.

“You know I will always like anything from you, Mulder. I mean, I don’t believe in green little men but you got me following you around chasing them, right?” she teased as he pulled her back to his arms.

“Mr. and Mrs. Mulder”, he muttered trying to hear how it sounds.

“In your dreams, Mulder. I am keeping my name”, she replied and they both laughed.

“Whatever you wish, honey, as long as you’re with me”, he said.

~~FIN~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it for this story. I hope you all like and enjoy it! Until the next one!


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